The Road to Evolution
by ProtoAlgo
Summary: Society is declining, soon a new order will rise to take over what remains and tear the old world down. No one said being a Shinobi in these troubled times was easy but Naruto must find his resolve with his friends and follow the only path left; Fight for humanity. Rated M just in case/NaruIno.
1. Easy Target

"And your winner ladies and gentlemen, Naruto Uzumaki!"

The crowd roared in approval as the announcer raised the blonde's arm as the victor of the bout. Naruto smiled as he looked at the faces cheering him on and chanting his name. He barely felt pain or had trouble from his opponent who was knocked out in less than three minutes.

After the cheering died down he removed himself from the fighting steel cage and let other men come in to check on the guy who was still down on the floor " _Might take him_ _a while to wake up..._ " he thought.

Naruto had been fighting inside the Tokyo underground circuit for the last few months, fighting was something he was good at, it was not his first choice but when he discovered how much money he could make in one night only, rent and bills became a thing of the past, his only thought was where he would go to eat after the fight. The pay was excellent and without a career or any experience elsewhere, the thought of being inside an office for less money did not seem attractive at all to him. After he finished high school last year he realized studying a career was the next step, only problem was he did not know what to pursue yet, his parents, Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki both had great jobs and for a while provided their son time to make up his mind about his future, but they never got a chance to get an answer.

Both had disappeared almost a year ago.

He had to improvise, with no money, he realized the only way to survive would be by doing the thing he was good at, fighting. Getting into this world was not easy for anybody, he had to undergo a couple of tests first to make sure he could enter, aside from being followed most of the time and assure he was not an informant or working for the police, this was an illegal activity after all and it moved a lot of money, they could not risk anyone to ruin it.

But Naruto was fine with this, he understood the rules of the game and played along, he knew when he was being tailed and as long as they kept their distance and not try to do anything, he would not outrun them, he could do it after all since he was no ordinary human.

Naruto was a Shinobi, someone with the ability to use Chakra, the essence of power within all living things. This gave him a tremendous advantage against a regular person, speed, strength, reflexes and resistance were ridiculously enhanced, this was also another reason Naruto chose the illegal fights, for someone like him it was easy money.

Naruto found himself in one of the locker rooms unwrapping the bandages from his hands when someone knocked on the door.

"Come in!" he replied, then a very short but well dressed man entered the room, he had grey dreadlocks held up with a green sweatband, red square-framed sunglasses, he was missing an upper right tooth and sported a manchu moustache and trimmed chin-beard.

"Naruto my boy! Hahaha." he patted him on the back "You never cease to amaze me!"

"Hey Chen-san, how were the bets tonight?"

"Solid numbers my boy, solid numbers!" he replied in excitement while he pulled out an envelope from his vest "Your pay, with an extra bonus for tonight's win!"

Naruto received the envelope and only put it away in his backpack. "Thanks!" he replied with a cheeky smile.

"Not counting it?"

"Should I?"

"Heh, you're a strange fellow, ever since you started here, you never check the money I give you."

"I don't have to, money is made to be spent, you have not given me a reason to doubt you, besides…" he finished removing the bandages and threw them inside a nearby trash can "You would be lying in a hospital bed already if that was the case…"

There was a brief silence in the room, then suddenly both men burst out laughing, Chen knew Naruto well enough to know he was joking with him.

"Good one boy, good one! You know, you should be in the big leagues, not here in the streets fighting for scraps."

"You pay no scraps Chen-san, I'm good here, where else would I go?"

"The West boy, in North America, that's where the real money is, someone with your fighting talent can go straight there instead of busting your ass here for much less, just a thought."

"Thanks for the compliment!" Naruto said smiling "But I don't know if I'll be doing this professionally yet…"

"Which is why you should take advantage of your youth now boy! You won't stay that way forever, so just think about it ok?"

"I will, thanks for the advice!"

Chen started walking out but stopped "By the way, there is a good looking girl out there on the street looking for you, never seen her around here, just asked for you specifically." at this comment Naruto raised an eyebrow.

"A girl? For me? Are you sure she's not looking for someone else?"

"You're the only Naruto Uzumaki here am I right? Just go see what she wants, she might be one of your fans hehehe…"

"Sure she is…" Naruto just rolled his eyes in skepticism.

With that said, Chen left the room so Naruto could finish getting ready to leave the building. While he dressed he wondered who was waiting for him outside, Chen could be right, this might some groupie looking to meet him, after all who else would be looking for him? He had learned to keep a low profile for the last couple of months, especially now since he was involved in the underground world. It was best not to put so much thought to it so after a few minutes he got ready, picked up his backpack and exited the room.

As he made his way outside to the street he noticed in the distance a figure leaning against the seat of a black motorcycle, when he got closer he noticed it was a woman, fair skin, blue eyes, long platinum blonde hair worn in a ponytail that reached probably to her lower back, with bangs covering the right side of her face and a red clip holding the left part of her hair. She had a long purple trench coat reaching to her knees, a pair of black jeans and boots. At first glance he guessed her age was around the same as his, only slightly shorter in stature.

Naruto felt embarrassed when the girl noticed he was eying her way too much, she smirked and started walking towards him, was Chen right about her? She did not look like a fan of his, much less a groupie, she was very beautiful, that much he knew, 'good looking' as his paymaster put it earlier was an understatement.

"Cat got your tongue?" she said still holding her smirk, still impressed by her looks Naruto was unable to form a sentence "I'm Ino Yamanaka, nice to meet you." She said politely offering her hand, a gesture he accepted puzzled.

"Uh, nice to meet you...?" it was all he finally managed to say.

"Are you hungry? I'm starving to be honest, let's grab a bite! My treat of course." she walked back to her bike waiting for his response. Naruto was to say the least, doubtful about the offer, her name did not ring any bells and it was a bit suspicious a stranger wanted to invite him food without motive. Ino studied his expression and smiled.

"I know what you're thinking, 'who's this cute girl inviting me to eat so late around here?', I get it, I'd be suspicious too."

"Oh sorry! It's just… well, I-"

"Don't worry, I'm used to guys getting nervous around me all the time, I won't bite unless you ask." She said winking at him. Naruto felt blood rushing to his cheeks again, not that he was a stranger to being flirted at but this was a very unusual spot for him. He wanted to respond but again no words came out, the moment could not be worse, however, Ino broke the ice again when she started laughing at his expression.

"Oooh I wish you could see your face now! Come, let's take a ride, I know of a nice place!"

She had brought a pair of helmets, she picked one and handed it to him and was about to put on her own while getting on top of her bike but noticed the fellow blonde was just looking at the helmet in doubt, she sighed.

"Hey, I feel you need to say something to me so feel free to talk..."

"Who are you really?" He looked at her straight in the eyes, Ino played innocent.

"Didn't I tell you my name just now?"

"Is that supposed to mean something to me? who sent you?"

Ino felt a bit insulted by his tone of voice, there were few people in her life who could talk to her like that and this guy was not one of them so she decided to start playing rough.

"Tell me something Naruto Uzumaki, what's it like to fight guys who can't use chakra?" Naruto's eyes widened at that question, Ino smirked at the reaction.

"I'm sorry?"

"You've been fighting here for what… three months? Thought nobody would ever notice you were cheating from the start?" she relaxed both her arms over the helmet now resting between her legs.

Naruto frowned "I don't know what you're talking about..."

"Yes you do…" Ino replied with satisfaction in her tone of voice, she had caught him against the ropes "I was in the crowd tonight, I watched you fight and I understand you do it for money, I get that part, but did it ever occur to you that someone might notice at some point what you were doing? "

"Look, it's been nice knowing you but I need to get going so if you'll excuse me…" Naruto started to walk away from her leaving the helmet on the ground, nothing would prepare him for the next sentence.

"Minato and Kushina did mention you sucked at talking with women."

His heart skipped a beat, she had definitely struck a nerve when she noticed his body stiffened, his reaction was also as she expected, he returned to her and violently grabbed her by the shoulders with both hands, his face standing only inches from hers.

"Who the HELL are you?!" He questioned now clearly enraged, Ino was unfazed by his attitude however. She grabbed both his hands and without effort removed them from her shoulders to Naruto's shock, he could feel an overwhelming strength emanating from her when their skins touched. Ino smiled.

"Let's get some food, then we'll talk." She walked past him to grab the helmet he had rejected and this time shoved it to his chest, Naruto was still in awe as he received it. When both put on their helmets Ino motioned Naruto to sit behind her, he complied silently, she grabbed both his hands and put them around her waist, Naruto could not help but keep blushing like the teenager he was when this happened "Hold on." she announced as she started the motorcycle's engine and sped off into the night. Just a block away behind where they had been a black van was parked, two men inside watched the whole interaction

"Damn it!"

"What should we do sir?" asked the driver.

"Follow them but keep your distance, we can't risk engaging them without back up."

The vehicle started moving slowly and soon picked up the speed, meanwhile the man in the passenger's seat took out a cell phone and pressed 'quick dial', seconds later someone picked up.

"Sir, we have a problem, the target is not alone…"

"...Who is it?"

"The Slayer, Ino Yamanaka, she's with him..."

There was a brief silence on the other side of the line.

"How many men did you bring with you?"

"Eight sir, armed and ready."

"...I'm sending the asset, keep me posted of their location Mizuki." the man on the other line hung up before Mizuki could reply.

* * *

Both blondes ended up eating at Yakiniku Q, a restaurant Ino had recommended, according to her, the Gyūtan, or salted beef tongue there was the best she had ever tasted and it was a place her friends frequently visited. They seated next to the front window to keep an eye on Ino's motorcycle parked just outside. She urged Naruto to eat as much as he wanted knowing well his hunger was far superior than hers due the fight he had earlier. He was glad she had picked the place.

"This is really good! I wish I had come here sooner!" Naruto said while he dipped some Gyūtan in barbecue sauce.

"Glad you like it!" Ino could not help but smile at his behavior, it was amusing to watch him eat, he literally looked like a small kid inside a candy store.

"Are you sure you don't want to split the bill? I kinda feel bad you're paying everything…"

"I invited you so it's fine, I'm sure you'll have plenty of time to repay me anyway…" she said untroubled, Naruto was left wondering what her response meant.

"What do you mean by that?"

"Naruto, do you wish to find your parents?" he swallow hard, in fact he gulped down the full glass of water he had served. His eyes turned into a serious look.

"Yes, more than anything."

"Then come with me tonight, I'll take you somewhere safe, then we'll start looking."

"But how do you know their names?…"

"I met them about two years ago, it's a long story..."

Naruto pondered hard on her words, Ino had baited him by naming his parents in front of him, still, she was the closest source of information he had a the moment and he felt no malicious intent coming from her, he could simply tell.

"And where will you take me? It's late, can't it wait until tomorrow?"

"There is a black van parked outside less than a block behind you..." Naruto was about to turn around to take a look but Ino stopped him "Don't, use this." she handed him a clean metal spoon that was on the table, using the reflection of the small object he could see the black van less than a hundred feet from them "They've been following us since we met, I'm afraid we can't go to your place for now, it'll only make the situation worse, I'm sorry…" Ino resumed.

"Who are they? And how are you so sure they're tailing us?" Naruto put the spoon down on the table.

"My guess is as good as yours but they've been out there since we arrived and nobody has stepped out once, I have a talent when it comes to these things…"

"...Chakra?"

"Not necessarily, they're just being too obvious." she smirked with confidence.

Naruto was no gambler but he was about to make a huge bet on a girl he didn't know at all, up to this point Ino had not shown him any reason not to trust her, he had always been a good judge of character and it had nothing to do with his chakra abilities. He would be lying to himself if the fact that she could also use chakra did not make him curious at least also, the moment her hands touched minutes earlier he felt a great power emanating from her, a feeling only certain people had transmitted to him in his life, more specifically Naruto's mother and his father.

" Let's say for a moment that I believe what you're saying and I come with you, how do I know that this isn't a setup?"

Ino smiled at him "Good question, I have something meant for you, give me your hands…" Naruto extended both his hands to her watching with curiosity what she would do next, he felt once again a chakra signature coming from her, this time however it was not her own "Now I need you to close your eyes for a moment, I'll keep mine open just in case." Naruto obliged, what he would witness next was about to leave him speechless, he found himself in an open foggy area and in front of him both Minato and Kushina, his parents, were standing, both looking worried.

His father spoke first.

" ** _Naruto, I know this isn't the best way for you to see us and you probably have a lot of questions but we don't have much time, we're being pursued, all of us are and right now we need you to trust what we tell you and follow our words carefully…_** "

His mother continued " ** _My sweet boy, my little Naruto, please listen... the world is about to change, everything you know will change, the time I have feared the most has come, the time for you to become a full fledged Shinobi..._** "

" ** _Everything your mother and I taught you about chakra was for a reason Naruto, your heritage as a Shinobi will make you a target for people with hidden agendas, people your mother and I have been fighting our whole lives..._** "

" ** _You can trust Ino, she's there to keep you safe, please listen to her and do as she says..._** "

" ** _She will take you to meet the Hokage, and if everything goes accordingly, we will meet you there soon, for now stay with her and keep yourself out of trouble son..._** "

" ** _Naruto, please always remember that we love you no matter what, you're our son and you're our most important person in the world, we didn't mean to leave-_** "

Suddenly they vanished into thin air. Naruto slowly opened his eyes feeling somewhat dizzy, like his brain had been scrambled as eggs, Ino had a concerned look on her face but he did not understand what it was about.

"We need to leave…!" Ino said as she watched eight men coming out of the van's backdoor, they all wore black military equipment, masks under black helmets and carried assault rifles, she calculated they had about twenty five seconds or less before they would enter the restaurant. She pulled herself and Naruto from their table not before leaving some money, then hurried to the back of the place, proceeding past the kitchen and the employees who looked just as confused as Naruto yet they continued with their labors. Both reached the back exit that led them to an alley that fortunately had people walking around looking for more food stands, Ino took advantage of this and guided Naruto through the crowd, reaching her bike was still a problem, it was parked in front of the restaurant but they would be spotted immediately if they went there, she had to figure out a plan quick.

"Follow me!"

-0-

 **And there we go! this is my first attempt at a story I've had in my head for some time and plan to develop into something huge eventually.**

 **Yes, this is set in modern time as opposed to most Naruto fanfics I wanted to create a plot entirely from scratch since I'm one of the few fans of the series that was left with a bittersweet feeling about how it ended, sorry but Kishimoto kinda fucked up from my POV.**

 **I'm always open to suggestions, also I want to release a weekly chapter if it goes well, hope you enjoy reading!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**


	2. Don't Look Back

"Shit! Who gave the order?!" Mizuki yelled inside the van.

"Looks like someone at HQ sir..." responded the driver.

Mizuki had ordered his men to wait until they had back up, now his authority was being overruled by someone else back at the base who apparently had no idea of what he or she was doing, now everything would probably go to hell for someone's hasty behavior.

"See? This is what happens when you can't have control of an operation, not even our own men!" He slammed one of his fists against the glove compartment "They seem to forget how dangerous this girl is!"

"What should we do sir?"

"What CAN we do?! I just hope that bastard doesn't destroy half the city when he gets here!"

Naruto and Ino had managed to enter one of the buildings nearby and continued to the last floor it offered. The complex was old, despite their best effort to not make noise, the circumstances forced them to move harshly through the stairs causing the inhabitants to walk out of their apartments to see where the noise was coming from. Ino opened the last door leading to the rooftop and Naruto followed.

"Can you walk walls?" Ino asked while they continued moving.

"Walls?! No! I've never done that!"

Ino stopped right there and turned around to face him, a stern look on her face "How good is your chakra usage exactly?!"

"I only use it for fighting! Not for running! If it helps, I can jump longer distances!"

"Good, at least for now that'll help, stay close and do as I say understand?"

"Ino but wha-"

"Naruto! Understand?!" she grabbed him by the shoulders, her eyes told Naruto the urgency of the situation, he nodded and both continued. From one of the corners of the rooftop they could see the van had not moved, the armed men who were in pursuit were nowhere to be seen, Ino figured they were still inside the restaurant or down below in one of the streets looking through the crowd, her bike was still parked where she left it but it would be reckless to just get to it without a plan, she had no idea if the van had someone else waiting for them to show up and shoot or if the goons sent after them would see them immediately after they reached it.

Without warning Ino jumped to the next rooftop using some chakra to provide enough impulse for her legs, the leap was not that long so Naruto could practically do the same based on his previous words. Seconds later he followed and Ino felt relieved he actually managed to pull off the jump. Now both were exactly above Ino's motorcycle but the risk was still high, especially since she was not entirely sure how good Naruto was using his chakra.

Ino opened her trench coat and Naruto noticed the type of belt she had on carried several small satchels, one in particular had some black orbs around the size of an egg, she pulled out one of them "These are smoke bombs, I assume you know what they're for right?" Naruto just nodded again, at this point he realized questioning her would not help.

Before either of them could make the next move, a sound coming from the rooftop's door caught their attention, the door was violently pushed and the eight armed men came out of it with their rifles aimed directly at Ino "Don't move!" both blondes stood still as the men surrounded them "We're here for the boy, give him to us and we won't shoot!" said the leader of the squadron. Of course Ino knew this was not true, years of training helped her see through the lies of people and she was certain the moment they had Naruto they would open fire against her because she theoretically was a threat. Naruto himself was powerless, fighting skills alone would prove useless against their bullets, his fist clenched but then Ino made his temper halt.

"It's fine Naruto..." she stated and she simply pressed one of his hands urging him to go, he realized she had a plan but was not entirely sure what to expect.

"Move!" one of the armed men commanded as Naruto slowly walked away from Ino, he could not help but look at her as he continued to take distance, she showed him her confident smile. One of the masked men grabbed Naruto by one of his arms and pulled him towards them harshly while keeping an eye on Ino all the time, now the remaining soldiers surrounded her, their weapons still aimed.

"Do it!"

"NO!" Naruto screamed as they opened fire, trying to run back to where she was but founding himself restrained by the man who had pulled him away. He watched in horror as her body convulsed while the bullets went through her, then they stopped. Ino's body slowly fell on its knees and tumbled down to the floor with a loud thud. Screams of people on the streets below could be heard.

"BASTARDS!" He screamed.

"We got the target sir, moving back to your position."

" _What the fuck?! Do you want to bring the police here?!_ "

"Orders from the command center sir, we've taken care of the Slayer and...! Wait! Where is she?!"

Seconds before where Ino's body lied a block of wood full of bullet holes had taken its place, she was gone.

"Gah!" One of the men suddenly yelled, then collapsed to the ground dead.

"Ugh!" Then another one, Naruto could barely see what was going on, the his captor also screamed when something from behind pierced right through him, it was a katana.

" _Report! What's going on up there?!_ "

"I don't- Agh!"

" _Report!_ " But Mizuki would not get any response back, the line went static.

Naruto could not move, his body was completely paralyzed even though he was no longer being held, he mustered all his willpower and finally could see Ino, she was moving at a speed he had not seen before and taking out the squadron one by one with a katana sword, each with one methodical and swift thrust to a vital organ, like flies, they all dropped dead in seconds. When the rooftop felt silent she swung the weapon to clean the blood and put it back inside the sheath around her waist.

"W-where did you pull that from?!"

His answer came right away when she pulled from one of her satchels a small paper scroll, she opened it and by making a hand sign the weapon vanished into a puff of smoke, then she rolled the scroll and put it away "Scrolls are handy to carry anything, now let's see..." She walked past the still shocked Naruto casually as if nothing had happened and crouched to take a closer look at one of the bodies, she noticed they did not have any sort of emblem or tag to identify them, she pulled the mask away from the corpse but could not recognize the face. "These men were hired mercenaries, no tags, no IDs, no trail to follow them back to the source, whoever sent them must want the job done discretely."

"W-what's going on Ino?! What did I get myself into?!" His voice clearly shaken.

"I don't know but this is a race against time now, we need to get out of here before more guys like these come..." She walked to the edge of the building "The same principle for jumping applies here, just channel chakra to your feet but not for the jump itself, only the fall, that is if you don't want to break your legs..." Naruto just gulped, he had never tried such a stunt, despite the fact that the building had only a few floors, Ino noticed he was hesitant about the next part and sighed in defeat "Don't tell me that you haven't done this before..."

"No, not really..."

"Take my hand then, I'll help you."

Naruto did as he was instructed and took the hand she offered, immediately he felt her chakra signature again, only this time somehow she had managed to channel it as if she had control of his body " _She can do that too?_ " he thought. The next part would not be much of his liking as inadvertently Ino pulled him to jump with her to his horror, she used in mid air the smoke bomb from earlier and it landed directly in front of the van creating a cloud of smoke than grew by the second while both landed safely on the ground, Naruto still felt his heart was about to come out of his mouth as he landed, Ino simply stroked his cheek.

"You're fine, you made it, now let's get out of here!"

"Shit! They're escaping!" Mizuki grabbed his radio frantically while the smoke blocked their view "Squadron leader! They're in front of the restaurant, repeat! They're in front of the restaurant! Start the van!" he said the last part to the driver, he obliged, still they were at a disadvantage already. Not only the crowd of people running from the scene blocked their path, Ino was already speeding away from them, Naruto holding on to her for his life. While they moved further and further away from the scene, he could not help but notice the color of the smoke.

"WHAT IS IT WITH YOU AND PURPLE?!"

"WHAT? I LIKE IT!" she responded smiling.

"I GUESS THIS IS A BAD TIME TO ASK WHAT'S GOING ON HUH?!"

"VERY BAD TIME! YOU'LL HAVE YOUR ANSWERS SOON THOUGH, JUST BE PATIENT UNTIL THEN!"

"CAN YOU AT LEAST TELL ME WHAT IS A HOKAGE?!"

"THE LEADER OF THE SHINOBI HERE IN JAPAN! YOU'LL MEET HIM WHEN WE GET THERE!"

Ino knew a chase would start soon so she prepared, she turned on a small red button on the left handle of the bike and then a green led went on intermittently.

"WHAT IS THAT?!"

"I'M LETTING MY TEAM KNOW OUR LOCATION!"

* * *

" _They're heading east sir, we're in pursuit!_ " Mizuki said through his radio. Miles away from the action inside a dark room with a large monitor three shadows watched everything unfold through the team's cameras on their helmets, the order to capture Naruto had come from this place.

"Was it necessary for you to send it?" one of the shadows said in a calmed manner "We can send a more organized team with some of our own."

"Ino Yamanaka has killed more of our men than any other Shinobi in the last months, if we want to capture the Uzumaki kid we need to handle her first, as you noticed, she can dismantle regular people with ease." said the leader of the three sitting in the middle of the room, never looking away from the screen.

"But project is unbalanced..." said a female voice, the last of the three shadows "Who knows if it'll be capable of defeating her."

"We don't need it to defeat her, just to get her away from the boy, he's our target currently." said the leader.

The three gathered were alerted when a cell phone on the table vibrated, it was a text message, the woman in the room grabbed it.

"The police has been alerted, they're sending several units to the area."

"Can we trust your source?"

"My contact there is reliable, feel free to check with your own people if you doubt my word."

"Tch..."

"So the police wants a piece of the action..."

"What should we do about them sir? What about the bodies?" asked the other man.

"Let Mizuki handle that, it won't matter."

His eyes were red as blood, three tomoe surrounding each pupil as he continued watching the large monitor in the room.

* * *

Ino and Naruto continued their hasty escaped, dodging cars and trucks alike, Naruto was feeling a bit nauseous due to Ino's driving skills, while he had to admit she was very good at it, he reminded himself never to eat that much again if she ever gave him another ride. It would have been the worst time to barf but he thanked the heavens Ino slowed down once they noticed nobody was following them.

They resumed their escape through a light traffic due to the hour, Naruto took the opportunity to get out of the way some of his thoughts now in a less loud tone since they were no longer being chased

"So... you seem to have killed before..."

"What of it?" Ino said bluntly.

"Nothing! I mean... you didn't seem bothered by it is all..." He paused when he noticed she would not respond back, the girl who was laughing with him minutes earlier was no longer present "I use chakra only for fighting, you are apparently much more knowledgeable about it."

"I have to be, I've trained almost all my life as a Shinobi so I need to know these things."

"Aside from that and your name, you haven't really told me much about you..."

"No I haven't..."

"...I see." His head lowered a bit obviously feeling disappointment due to her response but didn't press his luck, the spike haired blond figured sooner or later she would tell him more about herself if she felt comfortable enough. "Were are we going exactly?"

"Mount Tanzawa."

"Mount Tanzawa?! Isn't that like, outside of Tokyo?!"

"Yes it is."

"That's a long trip on motorcycle don't you think?!"

"Don't worry about that, my team will pick us up by helicopter."

"Your team sounds like the military type you know..." he raised an eyebrow.

"That's one way of looking at it, they're well trained Shinobi."

"But what about my stuff here?! If I'm traveling with you at least let me get some clothes from my apartment, it won't take long I swear!"

"Can't do that, I already told you if we go to your place we'll attract more of those guys and if I'm right, that is the first place they'll go looking for you so I can't risk going there."

Naruto knew she was right, his personal belongings would have to sit there for the time being, if he was lucky his place would not be raided while he was gone, which begged the question.

"For how long will I need to be away?"

"For as long as needed, that depends on the Hokage, not me."

"I want to find my parents, what they told me-"

"Whatever they told you it was for you and you alone, you don't need to tell me..."

"Wait, so you didn't see them?... I thought..."

"It doesn't work that way, I receive the message but I don't look at the content, it's none of my business anyway."

"But that is one of your abilities right? I mean you could've seen it if you wanted to..."

"... Yes I could have."

"So what is your role as a Shinobi?..."

"I'm a mind walker, I can see people's thoughts, amongst others things."

Naruto slowly grinned "Thanks."

"For what?"

"For telling me something else about yourself!" his tone was almost triumphant, on the other hand Ino had not realized she had unintentionally released that information to him but she was fine with letting him have it, no harm in that, she couldn't resist herself saying her next words just to tease him.

"I can also erase people's memories if I want to so don't get ahead of yourself mister!"

Naruto went wide eyes and started sweating bullets at her statement, she had to admit his expressions were priceless and started laughing, deep down he was glad she had let some of her nicer side return but as soon as she heard the sound of a helicopter she stopped and looked through one of her rear view mirrors.

"Looks like they found us!"

Naruto turned around and felt the air leave his lungs when he spotted a Black Hawk helicopter getting closer, Ino picked up the speed. The plan was simple, get to the rendezvous point and wait for extraction, except now they were being chased by air. Naruto's heart was pounding hard against his chest, he had not felt this level of adrenaline before, at any point during their escape a lot of things could go wrong for them, he tried his best not to think about it but Ino's dangerous turns had him on the edge of his seat, barely holding on to her.

Ino continued to monitor the advance of the helicopter when she noticed someone leaned out from one side, a person garbed in a dark, hooded cloak. Said person created apparently out of thin air a shuriken the size of a truck wheel and prepared to launch it, Ino's eyes went wide, she quickly darted in front of a large bus to avoid the line of sight but this did little to avoid the next part. Both blondes could literally hear the metal behind them being shredded and some screams as the shuriken went through the bus, the vehicle lost control and crashed onto other smaller vehicles creating a chain reaction, due to the size of the highway Ino the opportunity to increase her speed some more and get away from the chaos, some drivers were not so lucky and eventually lost control of their own cars ending up being part of the carnage.

"FUCK! DID YOU SEE THAT?!"

Ino ignored his voice and focused on the task at hand, the helicopter was getting close again.

"INO! THAT GUY IS A SHINOBI!

"NO SHIT!"

Ino checked again through one of the mirrors, the cloaked person's right arm was gone, yet parts of metal, mostly what appeared to be blades, former where the limb once was " _So he's using some sort of magnetic jutsu..._ " she thought. The mysterious person prepared again for another attack but the sound of sirens and then gunfire interrupted. Several police vehicles had arrived and were attempting to shoot down the helicopter.

"I'VE NEVER BEEN MORE GLAD TO SEE THE POLICE BEFORE!" Said Naruto.

"THIS IS OUR CHANCE, WE'LL LOSE THEM INSIDE THE TUNNELS!"

"WHAT TUNNELS?"

Naruto looked ahead and saw they were already pretty close to a mountain with a tunneling system running through it. He immediately knew the helicopter would not be able to follow them once they entered, only the police could, at the moment however they seemed pretty busy themselves. The shuriken was now being aimed at the police cars. Several vehicles went flying through the air with passengers still inside, One sweep was all it took to take down at least half of the force, the ones that remained started shooting at the helicopter.

"HOW GOOD IS YOUR AIM?"

"I'VE NEVER FIRED A GUN BEFORE!"

"NOT A GUN, HERE!" She gave him a odd knife with a scrap of paper wrapped around the handle "THAT'S A KUNAI WITH AN EXPLOSIVE TAG! I NEED YOU TO THROW IT WHEN I TELL YOU, CAN YOU DO THAT?!" Naruto nodded.

As they approached the tunnel's entrance the helicopter once again tried to cut the distance gap before they could enter, one more time the cloaked person recalled the huge shuriken and threw it at them.

"NOW!"

Naruto countered with the kunai, as both weapons clashed the tag immediately exploded, the entrance collapsed with tons of rocks and debris behind them effectively blocking the path for anyone to follow them, Ino was hoping the scattered parts of the shuriken had at least managed to hit the helicopter and bring it down but now there was no way of knowing it, at least they had managed to get away unharmed, or so she thought.

"Ino..."

She noticed Naruto had stopped grabbing her by the waist and turned realizing a blade had found a way into one of his shoulders, he felt somewhat dizzy and was about to fall from the motorcycle but she caught him before that could happen. Her motorcycle stopped on one side of the road and immediately she went to check his wound. Fortunately the blade did not manage to cut deep enough but he was still bleeding a lot, yet again, Ino was prepared for such scenario and was about to surprise Naruto one more time when one of her hands started glowing with a green aura.

"What are you-"

"Shh... I need to stop the bleeding, keep still..." Naruto did his best not to move while still sitting on the motorcycle, he did not say anything but noticed the concern on her face, this caused him to smile weakly.

"You're full of surprises you know..."

"I'd like to think that." She smiled back but kept her focus on the wound, as soon as she could feel the bleeding had stopped she pulled the blade without warning him, he yelped and a small trickle of blood came out from his shoulder but Ino continued using her healing palm to suppress further bleeding while disposing of the piece of metal.

"You could've warned me you were going to do that!"

"Oh stop complaining so much about everything, I thought you were tougher, you know, since you fight and all that..."

He knew she was only trying to keep his optimism up despite the situation they both were in and even if she sounded mean but her smile gave her away, it was a strange way of making him feel better, anyone else would have pissed him off at this point with the same level of sarcasm, she, however, did not.

"Can you move?" Naruto nodded, slowly he got up from the motorcycle "Good, keep your hand pressed there." She started looking around "Now if I remember right these tunnels have emergency exits that lead to the surface, we need to find one and alert my team, they were supposed to pick us up just outside of this mountain anyway. We'll ditch the bike here, by now that copter must be on the other side of this tunnel waiting for us. Here." She removed the device that was bleeping on her bike earlier and handed it to him "Let's go."

Ino offered herself to support Naruto while they crossed the road but he refused and opted to follow her only, he didn't want to become a burden for her, especially now. Both continued moving through the tunnel until eventually they noticed a green door to their left, this was the exit Ino was looking for, it took at least six floors for them to reach the hatch, Naruto was starting to feel weak again, the bleeding had stopped but going up the stairs trying to keep up with Ino was proving to be difficult in his state. Ino opened the hatch and both found themselves once again outside looking at the night sky, this time much clearer and away from the city lights that clouded the firmament, she thought if they were not in such a predicament currently they could actually enjoy the view for a moment, it was a great sight but instead she ignored the thought and helped Naruto out of the passage.

Both could hear a propeller behind them, Ino noticed Naruto's expression of worry and turned around to see the reason, she could not believe it, the black hawk had managed to predict somehow where they would show up, the cloaked person clearly smirking at them despite the lack of visibility.

"Got you."

A sniper bullet was fired from another helicopter and found it's mark, it hit just behind the main rotor, where the engine was, surprisingly the bullet did not cause an immediate explosion but it served its purpose, to destabilize the enemy's own helicopter and cause gasoline to leak out.

"All yours Asuma-sensei."

" **Katon: Haisekish** **ō! (Fire Release: Ash Pile Burning)** "

A cloud of ash surrounded the black hawk, Ino immediately recognized the jutsu "GET DOWN!" she yelled taking down Naruto and covering him as best she could, what followed next was huge explosion.

-0-

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**

 **Second chapter done, might go back and review some of the things I wrote to see if everything was well written, while English is not my native tongue I'd like to think I have little to no grammatical errors when I write this, Translate and spellcheck are a huge help, especially since I'm writing most of this stuff from my cellphone instead of a computer at the moment :)**

 **I know I said in the previous chapter this would be a weekly chapter upload but due to some personal stuff I couldn't upload earlier, already working on more chapters, hopefully I'll have enough time to deliver at least one more in the following days to close the gap, leave a review if you wanna ask something or give me feedback, enjoy!**


	3. Welcome to Konoha

Naruto and Ino watched as the helicopter burned below them, the flames continued to consume the remaining parts of the aircraft and for good measure they all waited for at least one more minute to make sure no one would come out from the flames, at this point, Naruto was more than convinced anything was possible. The other helicopter, a similar looking black hawk but painted dark red approached them, a tall man with brown eyes, olive skin, short black spiky hair, and a beard extended his hand to both blond teenagers. Ino helped Naruto enter first and then she followed.

"We're clear Chōji, take us out of here!" The man told the pilot, he nodded and the helicopter flew away from the scene.

After there was enough distance created, Naruto felt dizziness and finally collapsed, Ino gasped "Naruto!" her reflexes allowed her to catch him before he could touch the metallic surface of the helicopter, she gently turned his body on one side, his wound had reopened, most likely due to the last bump he took courtesy of Ino, now the loss of blood clearly noticeable staining her uniform and hands.

"Damn it! He's loosing a lot of blood!"

"Let me check." one of her teammates approached them, the one with the sniper rifle, a man with shoulder length black hair tied in a spiky ponytail. He was no medic but could make a guess "Did you check for any remaining pieces inside?"

Ino shook her head, how could she have been so dumb? When she removed the original longer blades from his shoulder she was so eager to close the wound fast she forgot to check for remains inside that could possibly tear more blood vessels or worse, she quickly activated her healing palm jutsu on both hands and using her fingers she slightly parted the flesh opening, Naruto winced painfully despite being close to passing out.

"Asuma-sensei! Your lighter!"

The man who had previously helped them get on board pulled from one of his pockets a small silver lighter and tossed it to Ino, she caught it with her free hand and immediately ignited the small flame it produced.

"Shikamaru, keep his wound open!"

Her teammate Shikamaru did as he was told, Ino performed a hand seal to concentrate all the green healing chakra on the tip or her index and middle fingers then dipped them into the lighter's fire creating a temporary green flame, she only had a few minutes to use this jutsu as it was considered a very unorthodox procedure. Without wasting a second she pushed her fingers inside the wound causing Naruto to let out a painful scream. Shikamaru moved closer to minimize his movement.

"What are you doing exactly Ino?"

"Getting rid of any foreign objects inside him, as long as I keep the chakra flow steady then the fire will not burn any tissue..."

"Only inorganic material, smart." he said.

Less than a minute passed before Naruto started feeling a pleasant sensation, he did not know at the moment if it was her jutsu or simply his loss of blood and quite frankly he did not care, whatever she was doing it was working, soon he recovered his voice.

"...So you can heal, you can fight much better than I can, you're smart, know how to drive... Is there anything you can't do?"

"Shh, don't talk..." the praise did not go unnoticed by the rest of the team, Shikamaru gave her a smug look prompting her to silently reply also with her eyes to keep quiet.

"Ino is a very capable Shinobi." it was Asuma speaking as he approached Naruto and knelt to offer his hand "I'm Asuma Sarutobi."

"...Naruto Uzumaki." he weakly shook hands with him.

"This here is Shikamaru Nara and Chōji Akimichi, you already met Ino of course."

"Guys, let him rest, I've put him through a lot tonight. I'll disinfect the wound once we get to our place, Chōji!" She averted her eyes to the cockpit "Call ahead and let them know we need a medical team ready!"

"You got it!" he replied.

To Naruto it was still incredible how her demeanor changed like turning the page of a book, a moment she was fun and carefree, then she turned relentless and serious, he assumed it had something to do with her Shinobi persona, maybe she was simply like that, many women were based on things he read, not that he had met that many but he remembered even his mother flipped the switch the same way. He smiled as he watched the night sky, maybe this would not be so bad as he thought initially, slowly he closed his eyes for the rest of the flight.

As they flied into the distance, they failed to notice someone had indeed come out of the crashed pile or burning scraps that was the black hawk, the former cloaked figure, a tall and fit man with a pale complexion and no hair, as well as a horizontal scar that ran from his right temple to the bridge of his nose, his right arm had been amputated up to the bicep but he summoned scraps of metal from the crashed helicopter, forming them into thin small blades and thus creating an arm with them. He had numerous red eyes inserted all over his body, this included his head, shoulders, pectorals, triceps, the back of his left forearm, and one on the back of his left hand. His right eye was held open by eight stitches, the eye housed within was noticeably bloodshot and had a darkened sclera. He silently watched as the other helicopter disappeared into the distance.

* * *

"What now sir?"

The room went silent, they had been watching the entire situation through the monitor, even their 'project' as they called it, had failed in its mission.

"Senior President, if I may-"

"You may not. Your incompetence costed us eight of our men tonight, I told you that Ino Yamanaka was dangerous, she's nicknamed the Slayer for a reason..."

"F-forgive Senior President!"

"Leave, make arrangement for my transport, we're done here!" The leader of the trio stood up from his chair, his presence commanded authority without question, both figures next to him bowed and went to make their exit.

"Not you Naori, I need to discuss something first."

"Yes sir?" the woman known as Naori closed the door after the other man left.

"Have you located Sasuke? Tomorrow we have a press conference scheduled and he knows he cannot miss it."

"I have sir, he's at the Grand Nikko Tokyo Daiba in the bay area, his bodyguards reported his presence there."

"Tell them to bring him home at once."

"Yes sir, what about the project sir? And the Uzumaki kid?"

"Bring him back to the base for diagnosis, there is nothing we can do now about that kid, we had our chance and we missed it, now we must be patient and work on other solutions, he's not the only key to get to them…"

"As you wish sir, would that be all?"

"It is."

Naori bowed and proceeded to open the door to take her leave, the only man left in the room was the Senior President, he continued staring at the monitor a few more seconds.

"You win this round Minato…" he smirked.

* * *

Sasuke Uchiha had everything, the family name, the money, the cars, the looks, the women, a lifestyle anyone would kill for literally, yet he was not satisfied with it. He desperately tried to find something else outside of his boring life, his father had controlled every aspect of his life up until that point, his education, they way he would dress, even his social life had been affected, due to these circumstances he opted to play the rebellious card from time to time just to annoy his dad, it was entertaining to watch his reaction when Sasuke, as the public figure he was yet never asked to become, embarrassed the name of the Uchiha in front of everyone.

He was enjoying himself at the moment, rolling some dice at the hotel's casino, surrounded by women and of course with a lot of attention going his way. This was a temporary escape, spending the family's fortune with strangers and overall getting as far from his father's claws as he could to experience a taste of freedom every now and then.

"Blow them for me honey." Sasuke asked one of the many girls that surrounded him while he played Craps, the girl happily did as requested, he then threw the dice and to everyone's surprise and excitement, the raven haired boy won, he hugged and kissed the girl responsible for his lucky throw.

A moment later someone passed through the crowd surrounding him and tapped his shoulder to get his attention, in the middle of all the laughter Sasuke turned to realize it was one of his bodyguards, someone he considered a friend.

"Your dad just got word you're here, he wants you back at the mansion." the man said while getting close enough to Sasuke's ear.

"Did he now?" He smirked "Did he say why?"

"Sasuke, there's no need to provoke him, you know how he gets, I think we're in enough trouble just being here."

"You mean I'M in trouble Suigetsu, let me handle my father, you guys are just doing your job and there is nothing wrong with that."

"I'd rather not risk finding out, I know you don't like him but these stunts you pull sometimes make me take his side."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow at his last sentence "What are you so scared of? Tomorrow he will name me his successor at that stupid conference he set up and everything will be good, Uchiha Corporation will eventually pass to me and you can rest assured you won't need to find another job after that."

"Be that as it may, your dad is still the boss now Sasuke, can we just go please?"

"'Sigh' Fine fine…" Sasuke was annoyed but opted to follow Suigetsu's advice and leave the place, his other nine bodyguards helped him make way across the crowd who was still cheering him they reached the front of the casino three black SUVs waited for them, Sasuke took the one in the middle along with Suigetsu and two more guard, a woman with red hair as the driver and a large and imposing young man with an orange haired mohawk, then they all took off. On their way to the destination Sasuke's curiosity got the better of him.

"Did my father tell you what he wanted?"

"It was that woman Naori who called, just said to bring you home, nothing else..."

"Tch... so that woman does his bidding now... While we're at it, let's go get some food, all that gambling made me hungry."

Suigetsu hated dealing with Sasuke's rebellious attitude most of the times because he knew he could lose his job at any moment. Even when Sasuke assured him he had nothing to fear from his father, he knew very well which Uchiha paid his salary.

"We shouldn't keep him waiting..."

"My father didn't have the decency to call me himself, he tells his lapdogs to do it for him so yes, he can wait, and I already told you I'm hungry. Tayuya, can you take us somewhere where they sell good Onigiri?"

"Yes Sasuke-sama." She replied.

Suigetsu internally cursed his luck.

* * *

Naruto remembers some sort of barrier, to his surprise they never crashed, they landed somewhere on top of a large building, his last thoughts before he finally succumbed to deep sleep was Ino's voice.

"He needs a transfusion quick!"

"Gosh Ino-pig, what did you do to him?" the voice came from a girl with short pink hair dressed in a white nurse uniform.

"Sakura I have no time for your petty insults, his blood type is B.

Sakura Haruno, of all the medics they could send it had to be her, a rude girl with egotistical attitude and with the ability to get under anyone's skin, especially Ino's. Unfortunately, or fortunately depending which side you took, she was also the best medic ninja they had and she was more than qualified to save Naruto's life at the moment, Ino had already done everything she could, though deep inside she knew she could have taken Sakura's place any day. Four more medics were already prepared to receive Naruto, they placed him on a stretcher and took him past a large emergency door leading to the hospital's facilities.

Ino tried to hide the look of concern printed on her face, she felt a hand touching one of her shoulders.

"Relax Ino, he'll be fine." it was Shikamaru, her teammate, someone who happened to be very good a reading people's faces.

"I know..."

"You don't sound so sure."

"I just hate it when people get hurt on my watch Shika..."

Asuma intervened "For someone who just met him, you sound awfully concerned Ino, something happened?"

"I.. feel guilt, he told me he wanted to find his parents badly and here I come and ruin his night, he could've died-"

"But he didn't, you saved him and you brought him here, there's no need for you to feel guilt about anything." Ino just looked at her sensei surprised while he pulled out a cigar "Can I have that lighter back please?"

"Oh, sure..." She had not noticed she still had the lighter with her and handed it back to Asuma, he lit the cigar calmly and put the lighter away.

"You did a good job Ino, all of us did, Chōji, put that chopper away, I'll go file the report with the Hokage, you guys go home and get some rest." Without saying another word Asuma walked into edge of the building and disappeared.

Chōji opened a scroll and with a hand seal made the helicopter disappear in a huge puff of smoke, then he put it away much like Ino had done with her sword before.

"Man I don't know about you guys but I'm hungry after a mission, wanna get something to eat?"

"I already had dinner..." Ino said in a low tone, Shikamaru noticed she was still distraught.

"Looks like it's just us Chōji, come, let's give her some space." Shikamaru said and started to walk away

"He's in good hand Ino, go home." said Chōji with a smile before following his other teammate, much like Asuma, they also disappeared as soon as they reached the edge of the hospital's rooftop.

Ino was left by herself there, with her own thoughts, she had tried to not make a habit of worrying about a person she did not know, Naruto was her mission, that was all she was supposed to be concerned about at the beginning, he was her target and she had accomplished her goal, somehow internally she was struggling to make herself believe that the boy was only that, a name and not someone she should concern herself with, she had enough things to deal with herself to be worrying about someone else's life, even if said life was currently unconscious in part thanks to her.

"He's in good hands... sure." she repeated Chōji's last words "Of course he is..."

* * *

At least a dozen police patrols had arrived on the scene, forensic inspectors and investigators were on top of the roof where apparently a massacre had taken place, several people ran from one side to the other asking questions, handing instructions and taking photos and samples of the surroundings, it was a very strange sight, the National Police Agency rarely had to deal with these scenarios and today they were taken by surprise when the call happened, eight unidentified bodies of suspected mercenaries, all stabbed, several bullet rounds fired into a wood stump with no apparent human target, indeed it was a bizarre scene.

Not for Anko Mitarashi, her instinct told her what the rest of her coworkers did not even begin to suspect, this was the work of someone with special abilities, the biggest giveaway made it easy for her to confirm she was actually on the right path, the wood stump. She carefully eyed the remains of the item, how often did anyone see a wood stump filled with bullet holes on a rooftop?

" _Shinobi work..._ " She thought.

"Anko-senpai, did you notice?" a man approached her from behind, he had black hair kept in a ponytail, dark eyes and a scar that ran across the bridge of his nose

"We're missing one body Iruka." She stated "8 bodies, no bullet wounds, just one stab each..."

"A long blade perhaps... and that stump, the missing body."

"Or missing person, probably got away, you thinking what I'm thinking?"

Iruka nodded "Shinobi..." he said in a low tone of voice.

"Whoever did this is no rookie, these men were after something or someone and they got stopped in their tracks."

"Speaking of someone, we found two different strays of hair, it was already collected and will be tested for a DNA match soon, maybe then we'll know who did this..."

"Good, I'm eager myself to meet our suspects." Anko smirked.

"There is already another team on the road east looking for more evidence, there were several accidents involving a helicopter according to witnesses, nothing specific yet."

"I see... We should move it, there's nothing else for us to do here!" and with that she turned to leave, Iruka following close. Anko had met Iruka Umino, her partner, several months back, he displayed great knowledge in certain cases nobody else would or could look into, cases involving Shinobi, that for the rest of the department were looked at as unsolved mysteries. Anko did try several times to request to the chief of the police department access to the evidence found and stored to solve the cases, with Iruka's help she was certain her suspicions would no longer stay as such, they were denied at every turn however. On their way to the second scene Anko decided to make a call, it was a long shot but if her gut was right, then possibly she could be getting a huge lead on this new case.

* * *

" ** _Everything your mother and I taught you about chakra was for a reason Naruto, your heritage as a Shinobi will make you a target for people with hidden agendas-_** "

" _ **E**_ ** _verything you know will change, the time I have feared the most has come, the time for you to become a full fledged Shinobi..._** "

Their words kept resonating through his head like a recording, he could still see them both clearly, they looked worried, troubled perhaps, his mother with her long red hair loose and beautiful as always, she had a high-collared sleeveless blouse under a long, loose-fitting green dress. His father from whom he inherited his spiky blond hair, a green flat jacket, black pants and blue forehead protector, he was holding his mother as she almost felt to her knees in distress trying to reach her son.

Naruto slowly opened his eyes, it took him a moment to adjust to his new surroundings, he noticed a window, outside the sky was clear and blue as it had always been, then eyes shifted to the room he was in, his bed, not a regular bed, he was wearing a white gown, a peripheral line had been attached to his hand, he followed the line all the way to his left side where a metal pole held a plastic bag half emptied with what he thought was blood, a machine monitoring his heartbeat and finally what he most found odd, a flower vase filled with purple Petunia flowers.

"Good morning, how are you feeling?"

The voice in the room caught his attention and he looked to where it came from, a girl with short pink hair and the nurse outfit had entered the room silently, he took a moment to take a good look at her, she casually walked next to the machine monitoring his vital signs.

"...Morning."

"The blood transfusion was quick and as expected, you recovered in just one night." She said happily while taking a few notes at the same time.

"...Where am I? ...Who are you again?"

"Oh I'm sorry, I'm Sakura Haruno, I work here at the hospital, you're now in Konoha, our sanctuary for Shinobi, and before you ask, today is Monday the 5th, month is March and it's 9:47 am." She happily replied.

Naruto was still dazed but managed to keep up with her words and slowly remembered the events that had transpired before he lost consciousness, he tried to move but felt a slight pain on one of his shoulders that kept him still, his memories again processed more details about last night, Sakura noticed his expression of pain and leaned closed to help him adjust, her chest dangerously close to his face.

"Try not to move too much, the wound is closed but it might reopen if you're not careful, that is your first battle scar right?"

"Uh, I guess..." Naruto tried to look away and hide his blush, she noticed and found his reaction amusing but decided it was best not to provoke him, after all the blond had lost a fair amount of blood and needed to recover his strength first.

"I'm sure you'll be out today, for now lay back and rest, I'll send someone with your breakfast, the Hokage is coming to visit you also, I'm sure you have a lot of questions."

"Where's Ino?"

Sakura's expression changed at the mention of her name, quickly she moved away from Naruto ignoring his question and continued taking more notes while looking again at the machine.

"Where is Ino Yamanaka?" Naruto asked again.

"She's not here." Sakura replied with an unusual serious tone in her voice that Naruto did not miss, before he could ask anything else however the door opened again and two men wearing strange animal masks and white cloaks entered the room followed by an old man in a white garb, a gaunt face full of wrinkles and liver spots due to his age, grey hair and a small goatee, he had a single line running vertically under the outer corners of each eye, which stretched down into his face until they reached his cheeks. The old man was shorter in stature than the other two who initially came in but Naruto felt the sensation of a potent chakra emanating from all three, especially the old man.

"Thank you for taking care of him Sakura, you may leave now."

"Yes Hokage-sama!" Without even a glance back at Naruto, the pink haired girl left the room, the old man turned his attention to Naruto once she left but noticed his wary look, he chuckled.

"Good morning Naruto, welcome to Konoha."

* * *

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto**

 **Thank you for your patience with this week's chapter, I'm already working on the next part as I finish publishing this one, it's been a rough week personally for me, I'm not gonna tell you the shit I've been through but if you can imagine, it took me a lot of time to continue writing, at least I'm doing it from my PC now so it'll be a lot faster to work on each chapter :), enjoy!**


	4. History Lesson

Ino walked through the streets of Konoha looking to reach the front doors of the hospital, the Hokage had summoned her that morning and she assumed it had something to do with Naruto, last night she surprisingly spent a lot of time thinking about his health, when it came to a mission she always focused on getting the job done but she was genuinely concerned for the fellow blond since technically it was her fault he got hurt in the first place.

When she started her life as a Shinobi years ago Ino did not worry about having the responsibility of taking care of another person's life while at the same time taking someone else's, at least not until last night.

A pink haired girl currently exiting the hospital building interrupted her train of thought.

"Hey Pig, what are you doing here?"

"The Hokage called for me Forehead."

"Oh I get it, the usual 'wake up' protocol you guys have been doing lately?"

"I guess so, now if you'll excuse me…" Ino went past her side but Sakura was not finished talking.

"You know, I'm sure he must be very glad you saved his life, then again he lost a lot of blood so he must be feeling some dizziness." Ino stopped.

"If this is about you liking him, I'm not going to stand in your way Sakura, I don't feel like fighting again over the same thing."

"Wow, and here I thought you'd actually put up a fight this time pig…"

"As much as I'd like to oblige and kick your ass, I don't have time for petty games Sakura, we're not little girls anymore." Ino said without looking back at the other girl.

"I'd like to see you try Ino." Sakura clenched her left fist, slightly turning her head to see the blonde girl's back, Ino did not reply, she only kept walking into the hospital ignoring her last comment entirely. "Yeah, I thought so." Sakura said with a smirk.

* * *

"That's… a lot to take in you know!"

For the past hour the Hokage, Hizuren Sarutobi had been explaining to Naruto what being a Shinobi meant, their origins and history across the world, he listened intently to his words with little interruptions, to the young blond this was a new tale, something too fantastic to believe, even after all he had witnessed last night, all the stories he had listened to as a child, this old man in front of him was telling him they were true, that they existed, even yet, that he was part of those tales all along.

"I know Naruto, which is why I called for someone here to show you something, someone you're already familiarized with."

When he finished speaking, he signaled one of his bodyguards to open the door and let someone come into the room, act followed, Ino Yamanaka stepped in wearing regular civilian clothes, a plain purple t shirt, black leggings and sneakers, she casually waved at Naruto who noted what he had asked last night about her color being confirmed, she really liked purple.

"Hey there, how are you holding up?"

"I've been worse." he grinned.

"Ino's clan has the ability to manipulate the mind of others, a very useful resource for interrogation." the Hokage said and could not help but chuckle when Naruto gulped.

"So am I getting interrogated?"

"No, you're not getting interrogated Naruto, I think she can explain it better."

Ino walked over to one side of the bed and sat on the edge while crossing her arms and legs in the process.

"As a mind walker I can also look into other people's thoughts, share my own mind with them and even create a telepathic link between us." Naruto kept silent "What I'm going to do now is show you how events have unfolded for our kind, try to relax okay?" he nodded.

Ino reached with her left hand and touched the side of his face, closing her eyes to focus, for a moment Naruto did not feel anything until out of nowhere a small headache made presence known and his vision went blank. The world around him was blurry and all he could see was a white fog all around him, suddenly his vision started to come back slowly and the fog dissipated by the second, he could see an endless field of plants and flowers of different colors, sizes and shapes all around him, for some reason the sky was yellow instead of blue, he dropped to his knees and grabbed the side of his head in pain, he groaned and then a feminine voice came from behind him.

"Welcome to my mind." He turned around to see Ino standing there and smiling, she had the same clothes she wore last night, sword and all. "The first time is always a bit rocky for anybody, even for me it was hard but you get used to it with time, come." She offered her hand helping him back to his feet.

"W...What is this place…?" He asked, still groggy.

"Everyone's mind looks different based on their experiences, I like flowers a lot for example."

"So you're some sort of botanist?"

"Not some sort of botanist, I am a botanist." She happily replied.

"What happened to your clothes?"

"Same that happened to yours, they changed, and if I might say so myself, you look much better!" Ino winked at him.

Naruto looked down and was surprised to find his hospital gown was gone and instead had been replaced by a black uniform jacket with an orange zipper and buttons on the waist and sleeves. He had a red armband with a strange spiral red crest on his left arm, a pair of orange pants and brown sandals.

"What the…?"

"In case you're wondering, I didn't pick those, you subconsciously did when you entered here but don't worry about that, you look good, really."

And she was not lying, he did look a lot better that he did last night when they first met.

"This symbol…" he kept looking down his left arm at the odd crest "I've seen this before somewhere."

"That's the Uzumaki crest, it's your family's clan symbol, your mom's more precisely…" Naruto's expression again changed to surprise as he looked up to meet her face.

"How do you know all of this stuff?"

"Easy, my mind techniques are also a learning tool, I also have an eidetic memory so I can recall almost everything I see, you clan's crest I saw in a book once."

"Really? Wow… I don't know what to say Ino, you're something else!"

Ino proudly smiled and used a hand seal that started to shape the area around them slowly turning it into a wasteland full of dead bodies all over the place, black smoke an red clouds engulfed the field of vision, in the distance Naruto could hear loud footsteps rapidly approaching, from his limited field of vision he spotted an army of soldiers clad in armor moving swiftly to their position.

"Uuuh… Ino? Shouldn't we… move?"

The blonde girl simply smirked as the soldiers continued their approach, she remained on her spot, Naruto on the other hand was starting to feel the pressure inside his chest as the distance between the two parties continued to lessen. The army finally reached them and let out a war cry as they unleashed a volley of shuriken and kunai in their direction, Naruto panicked and curled on the floor, closing his eyes and making sure to cover his head in the process, he waited for the pain. It never came.

When he opened his eyes again he noticed the soldiers were already running over him, yet he could not feel anything, they were going right through him as if he was a ghost, he got back up with a surprised look on his face again and turned around to see Ino laughing as the soldiers also went through her to no consequence, she could not help but find his behavior amusing.

"You're in my head silly, everything you see are just projections coming from my thoughts, nothing here can harm you!"

"What is this?!"

"This is one of the first battles ever recorded in Shinobi history, every time someone reads a book their memory recreates the events inside their heads unconsciously, this is a recreation of the first battle I ever read about, it dates all the way back to 500 AC."

"5-500 AC?! For how long have we existed?!" Naruto asked wide eyed.

"Honestly nobody knows, records date back as far as that time period, some even think Adam Eve used chakra when they first came to this world but that is just a theory no one has been able to prove." Ino said as another army appeared on the opposite direction, ready to collide with the first soldiers.

"I didn't take you for the religious type…"

"I'm not, I am giving you some insight about our past, many names in history, believe it or not, were Shinobi at some point in their lives, the Crusades, the witch hunts, civil and world wars, they all involved people who used chakra."

"But why didn't they defend themselves if they could use chakra?"

"Because the concept of chakra has different meanings in each time period, some people called it 'magic' or 'sorcery', depending on which time period a person lived in, they could or could not know about chakra, the ones that did know were hunted down like animals under false charges, it is no different now, at least today we know the nature of our power and the fact that the rest of the world is not ready to understand it."

"So you hide?"

"How do you think regular people would take the fact that you can do things they can't?"

Naruto kept silent as the clash of metal weapons echoed from the distance, he tried to give her an appropriate answer but Ino interrupted him before he could form a sentence.

"They would capture you and put you in jail, probably use you as a lab rat or simply kill you and erase your existence." Naruto's eyes widened "It is pure fear, fear of not being in control, you see it everyday, governments, religion, corporations, even the entertainment business is filled with fear, and this is the root of all conflicts in the world, the reason we stay in the shadows, because the rest of the world fears us, they don't understand us, they will erase us from history before letting us live a normal life."

"Not every person is like that you know!"

"Tell me, what do you see over there?" Ino pointed to the battle, instead of sword clashes, several explosions could now be seen, shuriken and kunai were flying across the battlefield, Naruto didn't hesitate this time answering.

"You told me, this is a Shinobi battle, one of the first ever."

"And why do you think battles start?"

"Uuuuuh… conflicts of interest?"

"Yes, amongst other things, and where do these interests originate?"

"... Other people?"

"Precisely, the leaders, rulers, lords, kings, emperors, politicians, dictators and even the military forces, they are all corrupted because of fear, this is why the conflicts of the world never end, why battles like this one started, because of one person controlled by fear."

Naruto went silent, he knew she was right and did not come up with any response because there was no point to argue, he decided to move on with the conversation instead.

"I assume we're not here to talk about history right?"

"No, I wanted to show you something else. "

Ino used her hand to create a seal and the surroundings started morphing into different landscape again, it became an area of old Japanese houses behind a stone wall, a fortress attached to the side of a mountain, the moon was in full display illuminating the area, Naruto noticed a group of men covered in a black uniform from head to toe kneeling on the rooftops, all wore a katana strapped to their backs and were ready for battle.

"This is Mount Tanzawa right?"

"How it looked like centuries ago, here Konoha was founded when the first organized Shinobi clans gathered together to fight a common enemy, the Bijuu, Tailed Beasts."

Suddenly at the front gates a strong and loud roaring sound could be heard, Naruto shifted his gaze to the front gates and saw an enormous shadowy figure appearing and covering the area with its gigantic frame, it had long pointed ears and a menacing glare, it raised one of its arms ready to strike, Naruto tried to remind himself this was all an illusion but everything looked very real, he panicked again and looked over to Ino who remained calm as the beast brought down its claw. Before anything happened, the Shinobi started their counterattack with Ninjutsu of fire, water, earth and wind effectively stopping the beast's strike, others launched themselves in a cry of battle against the monster in front of them, Ino casually continued speaking.

"We don't know where they came from, all we know is that they're beings made of pure chakra and they don't like us, chakra or no chakra."

"So… this is one of those beasts?" Naruto could not count the tails due to all the movement and smoke surrounding the monster.

"The one I read about, the Nine Tailed Fox or Kyuubi, the most powerful beast of all nine."

"And… where are the other eight?" Naruto asked as the battle in front of them continued, Ino faced him.

"We don't know."

"You… don't know?"

"They hid themselves a long time ago when civilizations started to thrive, the Shinobi nations from other countries have confirmed several times that some of them are within their territory, others claim never seeing them before."

"Has anyone in Konoha ever seen one?"

"Yes, the Hokage of each generation have all met with at least one of them."

Ino again changed the landscape with a hand seal, the area turned into an open field covered in grass with a beautiful sunset showering the scenery. Naruto saw a group of Shinobi without their masks standing in front of them, their leader, a tall man with long black hair wearing a dark red armor constructed of numerous metal plates stood there looking at something in the distance. Naruto again turned his head to look at the direction where his gaze was set and noticed the enormous beast approaching calmly to their position, now he could clearly see the features of a fox and the orange fur that covered it. Once the beast arrived, it stood less than a meter away from his face, he felt paralyzed and could feel the sweat start to run down his back, the fox growled softly as it looked down on him, then another hand appeared and patted the creature gently, its slit pupils slowly changed shape and the loud breathing sounds became less erratic.

Naruto looked next to him at the man who was able to calm the creature.

"Hashirama Senju, the first Hokage in history and founder of Konoha, he was a different breed of Shinobi and his Wood style was very powerful."

"Wood style?" Naruto raised an eyebrow looking back at Ino, she realized he was still not familiarized with elements.

"More on that later." She focused her attention back to the scene happening in front of them "He basically was one of the few persons on earth who could go toe to toe with a tailed beast and live to tell it but his idea was mainly to keep them safe and away from other Shinobi who wanted to use their power for their own agenda."

"Wait… so the tailed beast could be controlled?"

"Yes, during this era it was discovered that their powers could be harnessed by sealing them inside a person, making them a Jinchuuriki, a Power of human sacrifice, they were the jailers of tremendous power and in return they became the most feared and dangerous beings known to date, even their own allies feared them, so much that whenever a Jinchuuriki was created, they immediately exiled it without second thought. "

"That doesn't make sense, if people wanted to control their power, why would they exile the vessels?"

"They always kept their eyes on them, the 'exile' was more of an excuse to keep themselves and others safe in case the jailer lost control of the beast and became a threat."

"Did that ever happen?"

"Yes, many times."

Ino again shifted the area now turning it into another battlefield, this time the armies in the middle of a dispute were using wood and fire jutsus against each other.

"Hashirama's clan, the Senju, were adept in many forms of combat as were their rival clan, the Uchiha."

"U-Uchiha?!" Naruto noticed the opposite army had one thing in common while they continued to battle, all of them had strange red eyes that shone bright even through the smoke "You mean as in the Uchiha Corporation?!"

"Precisely, they possess the Sharingan as a bloodline ability, with it they could control others as well, this man in particular…" Ino pointed at a fair-skinned man with spiky, black hair that had a slight blue tint to it grown to waist-length with shoulder-length bangs framing the sides of his face, covering most of his right eye that glowed red, he wore crimson armor with numerous metal plates, forming protective guards along his chest, waist, shoulders and thighs, he was an experienced Shinobi for the way he fought and killed several opponents "The leader of the clan, Madara Uchiha, his Sharingan was so strong he could control the Bijuu as well, from him, his descendants also learned and carried his will to try to obtain the power of all beasts and conquer the rest of the world with them eventually which brings us to our present…"

Ino shifted the surroundings one more time turning everything into an urbanized zone with buildings and people walking all around them in different directions, the honking of cars and voices of the civilians made Naruto doubt for a second if he was still within an illusion or if he was back in the real world, his answer quickly came when the pedestrians started going through him.

"So let me get this straight…" Naruto said as he did his best to avoid in vain the holograms "The Uchiha Corporation is actually run by Shinobi?" And the rest of the world has no idea?"

"You're catching on quick!" Ino smiled "We have a rule as Shinobi, our presence must never be known to other humans, we live amongst them, we eat, work, learn and in some cases, raise a family with them, but we never let them know what we're capable of."

"... And the Uchiha are about to break that rule right?"

"They already did many times before, Konoha's been there to stop them from exposing us but this time things are different and this is the real reason we brought you here Naruto."

Ino approached Naruto and took his arm to guide him in a different direction through the imaginary streets, they stopped just in front of a tall building with a peculiar logo on top of it, both looked up at a red and white fan.

"Your parents were targeted by Uchiha Corporation because they discovered the location of one of the Bijuu somewhere here in Japan…" Naruto's eyes went wide yet again turning his attention to Ino "They didn't reveal the location to us out of fear of repercussions against you, yet as you noticed last night, they almost got to you."

"So those men last night… they were sent by Uchiha Corp?"

"Most likely, they didn't have any sort of emblem or crest in their uniforms to identify them but who else would send a death squad like that to get you?"

Naruto again remained silent, he knew she was right again.

"We assume you would become their bait to lure your parents out of hiding, capture them also and make them reveal their discoveries, you understand the consequences if they manage to control a Bijuu again right?"

"... They would be unstoppable."

"Precisely, we cannot permit such thing, last night they sent someone, or something, to get you and they didn't seem to care about witnesses, which means they're trying to expose our kind, I strongly believe if the media picks up the story from last night or similar, Uchiha Corp will take the opportunity to cover their tracks and use anyone they want as guinea pigs…"

"Makes sense, if they're such a huge corporation they must have loads of money to buy influence…"

"More than you know, it's not just the media, but the government and the military as well, with such influence-"

"They can manipulate the truth as they see fit." Naruto cut her off but Ino actually was glad he was already seeing the big picture, the boy she had picked up last night for a moment was gone and no longer full of doubt or scared, he looked focused.

"So… wanna find your parents?" Ino asked with a smile.

"Absolutely." he replied smiling back at her.

A bright light pierced the skies making everything around them go blurry, Naruto's vision went white again, he slowly regained his vision and as he adjusted to the light he recognized the hospital room, Ino was still seated in front of him with her hand extended touching his face, she removed it and waited for him to talk, Naruto only kept looking around the room to confirm he was indeed this time back in the real world and not inside Ino's head, he saw the Hokage was right where he remembered him standing along with his two bodyguards, he remained silent as all the information of events he witnessed processed inside his head, now certain events started to make sense for him, not only what had unfolded recently, he understood why his parents were away from home so much on their 'business trips', the money transfers when they took longer to return home, almost no calls or contacts to let him know they were okay, it was all to keep him away from this world. Naruto fixed a serious look at the Hokage.

"When can I start?"

* * *

Sasuke Uchiha and his father had a quiet ride home that day, during earlier hours they had a press conference where the older Uchiha would present his son as his successor to take over the company in a few years, yet all the questions the press kept asking were about the older Uchiha, Itachi, who in the line of succession was supposed to become the next president of Uchiha Corporation.

The problem with that was nobody had known Itachi's whereabouts in years, not even his own clan.

Fugaku Uchiha was a cold and calculated man, he liked to invest his money where he knew it was beneficial, as a businessman he understood very well how to spend his wealth and keep the ball rolling, in a manner of speaking, the media was his biggest investment yet, he paid a large portion of the press to make sure his image and that of his company always looked impeccable in front of the world, yet recently he had found out not everyone was happy with their slice of cake, some started to get greedy and wanted a bigger portion.

This was easy to handle, sometimes he thought to himself if these people ever realized whose pocket they were trying to steal from, he would be lying if he ever felt pity for any of them, one phone call and they were finished, in the most rare of cases, erased.

Yes, he had killed those who tried to cross him or who thought themselves too clever. Blackmail? Threats? Exposure? He was a master of all these and second to no one, but recently more and more new reporters started to appear to replace the vacant positions that Fugaku unknowingly created for them and to his surprise, this generation of reporters were unwilling to take bribes or be cooperative with him, this was a new wave of free press and this threatened his position, like that morning.

At least ten or more reporters during the conference asked him about his missing elder son Itachi, when he tried to dismiss the questions or change the subject back to Sasuke's succession another reporter asked the same question with more emphasis on Itachi's name, eventually the whole ordeal lasted less than two minutes and Fugaku ended the conference clearly upset.

Sasuke on the other hand was rather amused to see his father ticked off about simple questions, he could have easily said it himself, 'My brother is missing' or even make a story to keep them busy, but his father's tongue was faster than his and he barely spoke a word during the conference, typical of him to want to control everything.

"You're awfully quiet today father…"

Fugaku kept looking through his window without replying.

"Look, if this is about today, I don't think you should-"

"I didn't ask for your opinion Sasuke."

Sasuke frowned at his answer and decided to turn back and continue looking through his own window, he reminded himself why his father was not likable in the first place. He wished he could have taken the ride back home with his bodyguards who at least treated him like a normal person, then it clicked.

"Stop the car." he said, Fugaku turned his face to look at him curiously, the driver stopped the limousine.

"What are you doing?"

"I want to ride with Suigetsu's crew, at least they're company." He started to open the door.

"You don't get to make that call."

"So you expect the future president of Uchiha Corp to continue listening to you?!"

"You're not the president of the company yet, so yes, I expect you to fall in line!"

"Father, if you want me to lead, you need to let me make my own decisions!"

"You don't understand do you? You are not ready to lead, let alone make your own choices, you are still just a spoiled kid who does not appreciate the life he has!"

Sasuke was starting to get really irritated.

"So you expect me to stay here with you?! Without talking?! No wonder Itachi is gone!"

A swift and strong slap followed, sending a wave of anger through Sasuke's brain, he turned to retaliate but immediately stopped dead on his tracks when his father revealed his Sharingan to him, he froze as he felt the effects of the powerful Dojutsu overwhelming him, without taking his eyes off his son he spoke again.

"Close that door."

Sasuke slowly complied.

"Driver, take us home."

The limousine started to move again and they continued their route.

"Do not speak his name again, do you understand?"

Sasuke was internally doing his best to fight back the sensation of fear and helplessness in his chest but found it almost impossible to resist, his father's eyes were too strong and he had no way to fight back, after all, he did not possess that power himself.

"Do you understand?!"

Sasuke could only nod.

"Good, tonight I will be working, speak with Naori if you need anything."

The rest of the ride was again silent, Sasuke made the mistake for a moment to forget his father's eyes were like staring at a demon, a presence so great and intimidating he could strike fear even in the bravest of men, sometimes he wondered if this was how he forged his legacy, through fear and intimidation, could this be any different if he was not an Uchiha? He wondered the possibilities.

He was well aware of what his clan and family were, what he was, what being a Shinobi meant, what being an Uchiha meant, yet he was a disappointment in his father's eyes because unlike most members of the clan l, he did not possess the Sharingan yet and who knew if he ever would.

He also wondered if his missing brother had managed to awaken that power, if possibly that could have been the reason he disappeared from the radar and maybe, if it could have helped him fight his father's demonic Sharingan.

" _Itachi… where are you?_ " he thought.

* * *

"Did you find anything senpai?"

Anko and her partner Iruka found themselves that morning on the site where an explosion took place next to a mountain, the initial reports suggested a bomb had been placed or dropped there as a way to collapse the tunnels running under it but soon it proved to be false, anyone trying to do that would have known the explosives needed to go inside the tunnels.

"Traces of gasoline, possibly a helicopter crash."

"Any bodies?"

"Gone, no human remains or blood anywhere."

"So the police don't realize what happened here huh?"

"The trail is faint, I was able to find it only because of my snakes, you can't really blame them."

"But if this was a crash, where is the rest of the helicopter?"

"Remember what we're dealing with here Iruka, whoever these guys are, they are not ordinary people, there is no genjutsu here to conceal the remains, I already checked, but they definitely have a special jutsu to remove all the pieces, sure, they didn't erase all of the evidence but it could've been anyone here to be honest…"

"So what do you think we should do?"

"Check the security cameras of the area, there must be something there that can give us a new lead."

"On it!" Iruka proceeded to leave the scene as several crews continued investigating the area, Anko remained there with her hands inside the pockets of her trench coat. She reached for her cellphone inside one of them and looked for a contact before pressing to dial. Two rings later someone answered on the other end.

"Hey Ebisu, it's me, listen, I need to run some tests in your lab, wanna give me a hand?"

-0-

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto**

 **Hello again! Sorry for the long wait, not gonna make any excuses, lots of work and moving around so I didn't have time to continue writing, the story is not dead nor I plan to leave it on hiatus, I WILL finish this story one way or another, unfortunately I realized I cannot write weekly as I originally planned, too little time with all the other stuff I gotta do, regardless I'm moving ahead with this fic until the end so hopefully next chapters won't take too long to publish, all the scenarios and scripts, or most of them anyways are already in my head, just need the right way to express them since I don't consider myself a good writer.**

 **Enough with the rant! Until next time!**


	5. It All Starts With The Basics

"I think you're getting ahead of yourself young man, we need to test your skills first, see what you can do."

The Hokage was well aware of Naruto's chakra but Ino's earlier report had established he was still nowhere near close to understanding how to control it, let alone, use it.

"All right, so last night I didn't know what was going on and I couldn't use it properly, I feel a lot better now, how about you let me show you what I can do?"

Ino looked back at the Hokage with concern, despite his words, she knew better than anyone that he was only bluffing because of how excited he felt, Hizuren also had his doubts, he could tell Naruto had a lot of heart and wanted to commit with them but heart alone would not help him survive in this world.

"Fine, come later this afternoon to ground Seven, I will test your abilities there myself, until then, rest."

Without another word, he started to make his exit from the room with his two guards following closely. After they left Naruto was still dumbfounded looking at the door wondering the only question left to ask.

"So where is ground Seven?"

Ino wanted to laugh at that moment but reminded herself Naruto was still an outsider and did not know the area at all. She proceeded to carefully remove the needle from his arm. He flinched a little in pain, nothing serious.

"Can you walk?"

"Yeah, whatever you guys did worked."

"Good, put on some clothes and meet me outside the hospital, the Hokage already did the paperwork so the nurses will come soon to clean this room, I'll show you around the village and then ground Seven."

Ino stood up and walked out of the room, leaving Naruto by himself, he checked one more time for his shoulder injury but now the pain was minimal at best, he got off the bed and started looking for his clothes only to realize they were probably sent to the trash because they were torn and tattered, not to mention the bloodstains. He looked inside the bathroom and found a small selection of new attire, he chose the most casual clothing, white t shirt, blue jeans and some sandals, sadly there was nothing orange, his favorite color, to put on.

After he got ready he proceeded to exit the room just in time as the nurses were about to enter like Ino had said, since he did not know his way around the blonde asked for directions to exit the building assuming Ino was already waiting for him outside. A few minutes later he found himself outside of the hospital staring at the rest of the village, it was not like he had pictured it, the structures looked modern and electric posts were all around, just like any other place in Tokyo, only smaller.

"Are you hungry?"

His attention was caught by Ino who was sitting on a small bench waiting for a reply.

"I-Uuuh…"

"It's a simple yes or no question, don't worry about the money, it's my treat."

"Money… wait! Where is my bag?! I had my money there!"

"You mean this bag?" Ino had a small open scroll from where she summoned a old grey backpack that had been largely stained with his blood, Naruto obviously panicked and soon confirmed his worst fear when he opened it.

"NOO!" he yelled in a comical fashion.

"What's up?"

"My money… all the money I had won yesterday..." he was on the verge of tears, all that hard work he had put off for the past week and now his payment was all red and useless.

"Um, well… Do you remember how much was it?" Ino was still completely unmoved by the situation, Naruto just looked at her in disbelief for her attitude. He opened the now red envelope and counted the paper without much attention.

"Like, ¥200,000…"

"No problem, I'll get you that tomorrow okay?"

He was stunned, she freely offered to compensate the loss and didn't even sound worried about how much money it was.

"R-really?"

"Of course, I mean, it was MY fault after all you got hurt so it's only fair I pay you, besides, it isn't that much to be honest."

Again Naruto could not help but stare with a mouth wide open, he swore Ino had just said the amount was 'not that much', was she joking? For him that was a month's payment.

"C'mon, put that away and let's get some breakfast!"

"Come to think of it… one of the nurses, Sakura I believe, told me I was supposed to get breakfast sent to that room I was in."

"Oh, so you've met Sakura…" Ino rolled her eyes, she was clearly annoyed.

"Is there something going on between you two?"

Ino decided it was better to eat something before she started speaking, she was prone to be very temperamental when she was hungry and Naruto did not need to take any heat for that. She stood up from the bench.

"It's a long story, let's eat first, then I'll tell you."

Naruto nodded and the blond duo started walking together around the village looking for a place to eat. On their way to get food Ino explained the infrastructure of Konoha, why it looked the way it did and how it was protected, turns out there was a genjutsu barrier cast around the entire village making anyone outside the area see nothing but a mountain and trees, if some lost traveler happened to get too close, the genjutsu alerted the guards on watch and they responded swiftly, she explained until now all they ever did was scare them off and nobody had ever been hurt. They eventually settled in a small Dango stand. While they ate Naruto could not help but notice everyone walking by kept looking at them for too long, they had taken a seat just next to the stand, Ino noticed this as well but did not mind the attention they were getting.

"Why is everyone looking at us?"

"I think they're looking at you and if I were to guess, it's because they've never seen you before and I'm usually with Shikamaru and Chōji."

"Huh, weird folks, speaking of that, are they here in the village also?"

"They must be around, why?"

"Just asking, so am I hearing this story about Sakura?"

Ino took a deep breath and prepared to answer, she was hoping he would forget eventually, she was wrong.

"Sakura's last name is Haruno, her family owns the Haruno Hotels across the country. We used to be friends a long time ago, as we grew up we formed some sort of rivalry, it was friendly competition at first, then something started to change..."

"How so?" Naruto felt genuinely intrigued.

"She… started to see me as an obstacle in her life, I don't know if training or doing things together affected her, then I found out the reason was because she would eventually inherit the business of her family and they recommended her not to hang out with a Yamanaka."

"Her own family said that to her?"

"I'm not surprised, if you were to inherit an empire you'd be expected to behave a certain way and stay surrounded by certain people, even if that meant leaving others who supported you behind, to be honest I never liked her parents anyway, all rich people are the same to me, stuck up and entitled, what I didn't expect was for Sakura to get those traits so fast."

Naruto remained silent for a few seconds, he tried to relate to her story, his parents had to deal with similar situations in the past, even if they did not involve extremely rich people.

"Why is she here though? Why did she stay to become a Shinobi if her last name is so important?"

"Because her family helped Konoha financially, the Haruno name was something you were used to seeing when a mission was requested, good clients and good payment, and way before she found out about this inheritance thing she studied and trained hard, harder than anyone I've ever seen, she wanted to become a medic full-time, if anything I..."

"You what?"

"Nothing… forget it."

"Look… I don't know Sakura or her family, whatever is going on with her, I don't care, my mother used to tell me when I met someone the first thing I should be able to determine is whether they had conviction or not."

Ino raised her eyebrow "Conviction?"

"Yes, she said when I grew up I would meet a lot of different people and I needed to know at some point who would actually have that will to get things done regardless of their path in life because those would be the people who could potentially stay in my life until my last day…"

Ino was genuinely confused by his words, Naruto noticed quickly and tried to explain himself again.

"What I'm trying to say is, you have conviction Ino, you're here now and as far as I can tell, you're very strong and willing to get things done for a cause you believe in, I doubt Sakura has that if she's leaving all of this for a family fortune, I don't think there is a need to compete against someone like her, you've already won that fight long ago…"

"I… Thank you Naruto, that's very thoughtful of you."

"No need to thank me, I know I still don't know much about you but with some people I can just tell, call me crazy if you want." he chuckled and scratched the back of his head.

"You're right."

"Huh?"

"You don't know much about me, yet." She ended her sentence with a smile, Naruto felt triumphant, he took that comment as a ray of hope, maybe he would be able to get to know her soon enough.

* * *

"Welcome back sir."

A woman greeted the Uchiha leader as two butlers opened the limousine doors, Fugaku and his son Sasuke had arrived to the Uchiha mansion.

"What's on the Agenda today Naori?" he asked as they started walking away from the vehicle

"We have several reporters calling to request an appointment for an interview with Sasuke-sama sir."

"Deny them all, what else?"

Sasuke didn't let his father's words go unnoticed, he frowned but decided to stay calm for now, it would be useless to discuss with him.

"Prime minister Kaneko is visiting this afternoon, he said he wished to discuss a personal matter."

Fugaku's expression changed, Sasuke was well aware of who the Prime minister was and it was extremely rare to see what he perceived as 'concern' painted across his father's face, not everyone could have the pleasure of watching the great Fugaku Uchiha feel uneasy about receiving a visit from a political figure. A smirk formed in Sasuke's lips.

"There is… one more thing sir, the project, it returned on its own to the facilities in Shibuya."

Sasuke was starting to get curious about the conversation but knew his father was about to dismiss him, to no one's surprise, he gave him a look indicating he should not be there.

"Let's go inside, tell me the details there."

"Yes sir."

Without speaking another word, they walked away from the young Uchiha to the mansion, leaving him on his own. Sasuke was no stranger to this type of behavior from his father, to hell with the fact that he was a businessman, in his eyes he was a plain old bastard, too busy to even care about the fact that he had a family or even behave like a normal parent should.

"So, everything cool with you and your old man?"

Sasuke was too busy thinking about his father that he did not notice Suigetsu and his crew had also arrived behind the limousine almost at the same time they did, only Suigetsu approached the raven haired boy after making sure Fugaku was gone.

"Not really…"

"Anything you wanna share?"

"Only heard something about the prime minister coming over here later, then something about Shibuya, not sure what it was."

"Ah, the Uchiha Corp facilities in Shibuya, what about them?"

"You know of anything special going on over there?"

"Nah, as much as I'd like to know, that place is super secret, top of the line secure, I've been there at the entrance a couple of times only so there's no way to know."

Sasuke pondered about this for a moment but decided to dismiss the matter for the time being, today he needed to actually stay away from anything related to the corporation or his father.

"Do you know if my father will leave the complex later today?"

"In the afternoon, yes, after that visit from the minister I suppose…"

"Ok, wait for me then."

"Sasuke I-"

"Suigetsu, just stay put, I'm not telling you to not do your job."

"... But you're about to, right?"

"We'll see, I'll go to train for a few hours and I'll let you know."

Suigetsu could only sigh in defeat, whatever Sasuke was planning was definitely going to get him in trouble. In the last two months at least, he had protected him to an extent when he got himself into trouble, not that Sasuke actually needed to be protected, he was a capable fighter thanks to all the training he received, but one thing was doing his job and another one trying not to lose it. Sasuke obviously went for the latter always.

* * *

"What did you find?"

Anko and Iruka had decided to visit Ebisu Tobita, a forensic scientist and good friend and contact within the force that helped them when a case went cold, he was very good at finding missing pieces of evidence and in the process making his fellow co workers look like rock stars. He had just finished taking a look through some results in his laptop.

"The traces you brought me indicate this is blue Av Gas, a common aviation fuel for spark-ignited internal-combustion engines to propel aircraft, the grade which is 100LL, is used on smaller aircraft like helicopters."

"You know, all I understand from what you just said was 'helicopter fuel'…"

Ebisu adjusted his sunglasses while giving Anko a stern look "Except there is no helicopter at the scene according to the records."

"That's because whoever was there erased the evidence, no ordinary human could have done that in such a short time, I agree with Anko-senpai on this one, it must have been Ninjutsu."

Ebisu continued adjusting his sunglasses for no apparent reason while he continued to read more details about the latest report.

"Anko-san, what do you expect to find? You already know any cases involving Shinobi end up being closed as soon as you present evidence."

"Not this time Ebisu, I'm tired of the chief always covering up these cases, I want to get to the bottom of this."

"You know you're playing with fire if you go that path..." again Ebisu kept pushing his sunglasses up.

"He's right senpai, you might get expelled from the police if you do that."

"Except Ebisu here…" Anko wrapped her right arm around his shoulder "Is going to help us keep this information out of the record, right?" She gave him a cheeky smile.

"And why would I risk my neck here? I don't gain anything."

"Oh c'mon, I always pay my friends Ebisu, you know that."

"Last time you said that as well and I got a disciplinary memo…"

Iruka tried his best not to laugh.

"Listen, you do this for me and I'll take you to that place I mentioned before, you know, with the girls?"

Both Ebisu and Iruka blushed immediately, understanding she was referring to a strip club, due to circumstances, Anko happened to meet a lot of girls who worked for her as informants during past cases, she had decided to keep them under her protection despite those cases being already closed and some of them were close enough to be considered friends.

"Y-you mean that?"

"Of course I do! There's this girl that worked with me on that last murder case, she's intrigued about you!"

"OK! I got you covered!"

Iruka chuckled at the scene, Ebisu started to work again on his laptop making sure to make a copy of the latest files.

"Thanks Ebisu! We'll ask you also to check for any recent purchases of that type of fuel in Tokyo, including private entities."

"ON IT!"

Ebisu happily changed his mood and started typing and working as fast as he could while on his research. Anko decided her job was done there for now and proceeded to leave the room with Iruka following close behind. As they walked through the hallway Iruka could not stop himself from asking.

"What do you plan to do if Ebisu gets you the information senpai?"

"I'm considering my options." She smiled "If the chief thinks he can cover this mess again, he's dead wrong, and don't worry about my job, I'll make sure that won't happen."

Iruka wanted to protest but he knew Anko was too stubborn to listen and at the same time, he felt he did not need to worry about her, she was good at it, when she pushed the wrong people she was especially good. As they continued walking they came across another scientist.

"Oh hello Mitarashi-san, I was looking for you, the results for the DNA tests we ran for that hair evidence found in the rooftop!"

He gave her a sealed envelope, she curiously eyed it and opened it.

"One of the results did not give any known matches in our database, but the other one-"

"Is a Naruto Uzumaki…" She sorted through the documents and showed Iruka the photos "Know anything about this kid?"

" I'll look into it."

* * *

Both Naruto and Ino had arrived to ground Seven that afternoon, the rest of the day she had decided to show him around the village as they had agreed after they took breakfast , Shikamaru and Chōji found them and had decided they would tag along later as well, they were also curious about Naruto's potential. They arrived to meet only the two of them since the Hokage had not arrived apparently.

"So what is this test about?" Naruto asked as he started stretching his limbs for warm up, Ino and her teammates walked to one side of the field and seated on a nearby bench. Shikamaru spoke.

"A fight test, Hokage-sama will determine if you're Shinobi material."

"Figured you'd say that…" Naruto smirked as he continued his warm up exercises, on the other hand Chōji took out a bag of chips from one of his pockets and started eating while they waited.

Naruto was curious as to how someone like Chōji had become a Shinobi since he did not have the athletic look exactly, far from it actually, he seemed overweight to him, maybe that was why he was only the pilot of the team and not an active member like Ino or Shikamaru.

He was too busy in his thoughts that he failed to notice the Hokage was already in front of him, he figured probably the others had sensed him long ago, truth be told, they did not, he had arrived silently to the area with his guards and even if they fell silent when his presence was felt, it was because they could not detect him, this type of things were what made others consider him the strongest and deadliest of Shinobi among them.

"Hey there old man Hokage! I didn't see you there!"

Internally Ino and the others wanted to slap themselves, did he seriously call him 'old man Hokage? Hiruzen himself sweat dropped at the nickname but shrugged it off.

"Well, I assume you already know what this test is about."

"You bet." Naruto readied himself posing a battle stance, the Hokage did something similar but only with one arm while keeping the other behind him.

"Remember, this is a Shinobi battle so use your chakra, don't hold back."

Naruto only nodded and waited for the opportunity to start. Both men remained still for a couple of seconds as the tension built, only the wind blow could be heard at that point until a single solitary leaf fell on the ground.

Naruto immediately dashed forward at high speed launching the first strike with a punch aiming at the Hokage's face who simply stopped it by grabbing his wrist and effortlessly tossed the blonde right behind him, in mid air Naruto flipped and taking advantage of the position launched himself again, this time aiming to land a blow on the side of the old man's torso, to his surprise he just hit thin air and felt a strong palm hit him on his back sending him face first to the ground, it took him a moment to recover.

He definitely was not expecting this man who looked like someone's grandfather to be so strong and fast.

"You're holding back Naruto, what did I just tell you a minute ago?"

"Tch…!"

Naruto stood up and took a deep breath readying himself again, this time he decided to implement more chakra to his body, not that he did not do it last time but it was definitely not enough, he reminded himself he was not fighting one of those street brawlers he was used to handling. Again he dashed with a stronger impulse this time and decided to strike swift punches instead of putting all his effort into a single hit, the Hokage blocked every single one of his strikes, Naruto kept pushing forward and forced him to use his feet and move as well, not that he felt the need to do it but rather wanted to see what would Naruto's game plan was. Soon Naruto started using combinations with kicks and a few elbow strikes, to his dismay, the Hokage continued blocking his attempts to hit him without breaking a sweat, it felt like he was toying with him.

Hiruzen again used a palm strike on the young boy's chest sending him flying back to the ground, the force made Naruto's body tumble and roll until he stopped a few feet away, this time he felt the impact of the blow harder than the last and coughed a few times while trying to stand and failing to do so.

"You doubt yourself, that is why you keep holding back, don't."

"You're… 'coughs'..."

"I'm not tired if that's what worries you, but you don't look so good…"

He was right, Naruto was visibly starting to sweat, he felt his breathing getting faster and louder and he had not even made the Hokage struggle at all despite the age gap, he was only until now starting to understand the difference between them in terms of power, his experience was nothing compared to Hiruzen's.

"All right…" Naruto said wiping his mouth from dust "No more holding back…!"

He posed a fight stance one last time while taking a deep breath, he knew this was all or nothing and was ready to go all out this time. The Hokage remained in his same pose, waiting for any movement from Naruto, it did not take long for him to launch himself again, only this time, Hizuren could clearly notice the chakra infused speed was much higher, he still remained calm as Naruto reached to strike again the same way he had done the last two times. He blocked every punch attempt expecting something new from the reckless blonde, it never came despite the increase of speed in his attacks so he decided to end it there.

In a swift and powerful motion he landed a palm strike to Naruto's face making his whole body spin and ended the move the a second strike coming from his free hand to his chin, sending him flying access the field, Naruto's body landed hard on his back feet away from the Hokage's, this time he remained motionless. For a moment he thought he might have been too rough but as soon as he heard him groaning he relaxed and ended his fighting pose.

Ino, Shikamaru and Chōji had watched with intent the entire display, they all knew the outcome would be something similar to this.

"Good work Naruto."

Good work? He had just taken a beating from an old man and all he could say was good work? He could not even land a scratch and despite using his chakra infusion the difference was still abysmal.

"I've seen all I needed to see, Ino, help him up will you?"

Ino nodded and stood up to walk over to Naruto's side, she knelt and activated her healing palm jutsu but was confused when he grabbed her wrist and stopped her.

"Don't." He said, she looked at him like he was crazy.

"Let me, the fight is over and-"

"It's not over..."

She definitely did not understand this behavior, the match was clearly over, she was about to protest but her words never came out as Naruto stood up without looking back at her, his gaze had changed and now he looked more fierce than before. The Hokage noticed this.

"You should let Ino heal you."

"Let me try again, one last time."

"There's no need for that, I've seen enough and the result won't change."

"Just… one last time… please!"

Normally a man like Hiruzen would not be easily intimidated but for a second he swore he could feel a tremendous intent to kill emanating from the young boy that shook him, he quickly regained his composure and would have lied if he had said he did not feel intrigued at this new development.

"Shikamaru, did you notice that?"

"I did Chōji, his chakra signature changed."

The duo had initially thought the same as Ino, that the test had been finished, yet the moment Naruto was on his two feet standing they all felt the change instantaneously.

" _This guy's chakra is insane! Did Ino notice this when we brought him here?_ " Shikamaru recalled last night the blonde's chakra signature was minimal due to his wounds, yet he wondered if at some point before he got hurt his blond teammate had seen this.

"One last time then, co-"

He did not finish the sentence as Naruto practically appeared in front of him, fist clenched and about to strike him hard, without enough time to react, the Hokage used both arms to block the punch sending him back a few meters but not enough to take him off balance, again Naruto disappeared without even touching the ground and reappeared next to the Hokage, this time with a kick about to land, being the experienced Shinobi he was, Hiruzen managed again to block the attempt forcing him to use some chakra himself to absorb the blow, without damaging his arm, Naruto restarted his attacks with far more speed and strength than ever before forcing the Hokage to actually go to the defensive, he realized something within the lad had been triggered.

" _He's fast_!" Ino's mouth remained open as she watched in shock how the Hokage, the strongest Shinobi of Konoha was being pushed back by someone who until then, technically did not know how to use his own strength, she never imagined a rookie would actually manage to rival him, then again, maybe she was getting ahead of herself, no one had actually seen him battle seriously. Chōji's bag of chips fell on the floor while he and Shikamaru watched in awe what was happening.

The Hokage decided it was time to go back to the offensive, he went for a palm hit but was not expecting Naruto to dodge it, let alone grab his arm and toss him over like a rag doll, luckily he was still in control and landed on his two feet without much trouble, this time he definitely needed to end the bout. In a lightning quick succession of hand seals he readied himself to counter the incoming attack from the blonde.

" **Doton: Shinjū Zanshu no Jutsu! (Earth Release: Double Suicide Decapitation Technique)** "

Right after uttering those words a hand emerged underground grabbing one of Naruto's feet before he could continue his attack and dragged him into the earth leaving only his head above the surface, when this happened Naruto snapped out of his power trip and realized his predicament.

"What the-? Hey! Lemme out!"

The Hokage finally relaxed, the bout was over and he was now glad it had stopped, he approached the struggling Uzumaki and smiled.

"I see you had a few tricks under your sleeve, that was much better than I had anticipated."

He formed a hand seal to make the earth around Naruto crumble, he realized this and started moving until he climbed out of the hole and patted his clothes a few times before redirecting his attention to the Hokage.

"How did you do that?"

"My element affinity allows me to perform different types of jutsu, that was a basic earth jutsu most Shinobi know."

"C-can you teach me that?"

The Hokage pulled from his coat a small piece of paper and handed it to Naruto "This is a chakra induction paper, it will let you know what type of element affinity you have, just put your chakra into it and we'll see what type of training you'll need."

Naruto curiously looked at the paper the Hokage had given him, Ino and the others watched also with curiosity the exchange, they were still surprised Naruto had managed to hold his own against Hiruzen and wanted also to know what type of nature his chakra had. After a few glances back and forth Naruto finally transferred some chakra into the piece of paper and it immediately cut in half.

"Wind, a powerful element, I'm afraid I'm not the best person to teach you techniques involving wind nature but I know of someone who can."

His glance was directed to the person behind them, Ino, who was smiling after this development.

"Y-you?"

"Indeed me, something wrong?"

Naruto realized how he must have sounded right there and put one of his hands behind his back to scratch his head in shame.

"N-Not at all! I'm just a little surprised is all hehehe…"

Ino gave him a questioning look but decided to let that be for now. Shikamaru decided to interfere.

"Asuma-sensei is also a wind adept so we'll talk with him also to help you improve, by the way, do you have a place to stay?"

"Uh… now that you mention it, no..."

During all this time he forgot entirely about the fact that he needed a roof for the night and possibly from now on. The Hokage had figured at this point he was already done with the test and decided to take his leave.

"We'll leave you boys to sort those details, I'll summon you if something comes up."

He tilted his long hat as a sign of farewell and disappeared in a puff of smoke along with his two guards, leaving the four teenagers by themselves again.

"You can stay with Chōji and myself for now, we have enough room for a third person and I think we could use some help around the apartment, don't you think Chōji?"

The Akimichi boy happily nodded in agreement.

"But... I don't have any money to pay rent guys."

Both Shikamaru and Chōji looked at each other confused and then laughed at his comment, Naruto clearly did not get what was funny about his statement.

"Rent? This is not Tokyo, we live freely in Konoha without the need of things like rent."

Naruto's turn to be shocked came again, the more he talked, the more he learned unusual things about this new world.

"Eeeehh? But, how is the village sustainable if nobody pays rent?"

Ino entered herself into the conversation "Don't misunderstand, we still use regular economy to move around the country and buy things like groceries but here there is no need for it, we are a self sustained village thanks to our chakra so things like electricity or water are not things you need to pay for when you can generate them yourself, because of this, rent is also unnecessary."

"You're talking about Shinobi that use their own chakra nature to sustain the village?"

"Exactly." Shikamaru continued "When we get there I'll show you how it works so don't worry about money, you won't need it unless you leave the village on a mission."

"In that case I'll see you guys later, dad must be wondering where I'm at now and you know how he gets." Ino started to wave goodbye to everyone "Naruto, I'll go pick you up tomorrow morning at 6AM to start your training, be ready." before he could reply she jumped away to a nearby rooftop and disappeared in the distance.

"Quite a girl huh?" Chōji nudged his elbow at Naruto.

"... Yeah, she's… interesting."

"Chōji, don't give him any ideas now, come, let's get you set up."

And then the trio walked off.

-0-

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto**

 **Here we are again with another chapter for this long story, will continue to keep it updated, comments and reviews are always appreciated, thank you for your time to read this!.**


	6. Secrets

"Well, the kid seems to be clean senpai, no criminal records, finished high school education, parents are Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki, both biologists who went missing some time ago… I mean there's no indication about why he was there."

"Keep digging, there must be something useful to go with…"

"Okay… How about this?" Anko leaned closer to the monitor "One of the traffic cameras caught this picture, of him and another suspect speeding on the highway."

The picture was blurry due to the high speed they were going at precisely at that moment but thanks to facial recognition, Anko could easily identify Naruto's face, the other face however, the driver of the motorcycle, was still a mystery.

"Who's the girl driving?"

"I ran several scans on other databases, including FBI and Interpol, still no records, she's a ghost."

"Check the other cameras in the areas where all the accidents took place, we might be able to backtrack to where they came from."

"Will do, it's gonna take me a couple of minutes thought, might want to grab a coffee while I work on that?"

"I could use some caffeine."

Anko stepped away from the desk to let Iruka work, she indeed needed something to keep herself active, all the office work bored her and she wanted nothing more than to go out and find this kid, whoever he was, to question him. She walked through one of the hallways of the station while looking at several vending machines on the way, she eventually found one that made coffee, pulling a yen coin from her trench coat she proceeded to make the beverage of her choice, then she felt a presence behind her leaning against the wall, it was very hard to sneak up on her but she immediately recognized who this person was.

"Can I help you with something Kabuto?"

Kabuto Yakushi, the man in question, was a rookie just like Iruka. He had been assigned to office work for the majority of the time there meaning he hardly went out to help with a case, he was a young man still, younger than Iruka at least, onyx eyes and ash-grey hair normally kept in a ponytail. His most consistent feature were a pair of black rimmed circular glasses that he constantly kept pushing upward as a habit, just like Ebisu did.

"Good day to you too Anko-san, I'm just making the line to use the coffee machine like you are." he replied with a smirk, Anko felt uneasy.

"Well, I'm almost done here so I'll get out of your way soon." she replied without looking at him even once.

"By the way Anko-san, I don't know if you're the right person to talk about this with, but I was wondering, how long do you think it will take a new recruit like myself to get out of the office and start getting field experience?"

"Tired of your desk already?"

"Maybe, I just thought about Iruka-san, he's been here a bit longer than me but he's already going out solving cases with you."

"He got assigned to me, anyway you need to talk to the chief about that, I can't help you."

Right at that moment the coffee Anko had selected was ready for her and she took it from the dispenser before starting to walk away. Kabuto proceeded to adjust his glasses and walk over to the machine to order his hot beverage.

"I understand, I'm sure the chief will know when to assign me a partner when the time is right."

"Yeah…" Anko decided it was best not to prolong the conversation and continued walking, Kabuto was an odd fellow, she was not very good at reading people's intentions but there was something about him that made her keep her distance.

" _Creep._ "

* * *

"Woah! Are you serious?!"

Shikamaru and Chōji had reached their small house complex and were currently showing Naruto how the chakra system running through the place worked. Seals were inscribed to a specific part, the water tank had one, so did the power generator and finally the boiler room in the basement. Inside of the house, where they currently were, those same seals were written in smaller inscriptions on the kitchen's wall, all they needed to do was apply some of their chakra to them and the seal did the rest, it did not matter if their chakra affinity was different, the seals were designed to automatically convert the chakra to its needed nature for each system to work.

"We just gotta keep an eye on them every month or so, when the reserves run low the seal usually starts flashing, hard to miss honestly."

"Yo Naruto, your room is over here." Chōji called. He opened the door and to Naruto's surprise, the room was bigger than he had anticipated, he had more than enough space inside to decorate it as he liked, only problem was all his furniture and clothes were back in Tokyo and he did not need a reminder again that he could not go back. The only thing he noticed was not needed was a bed.

"So, this'll do?"

"It will, thanks guys, but most of my stuff…"

"Hey, forget about that, once you start doing missions with us you'll have enough money to buy everything again, payment for each mission is very good here."

"Did you guys get paid for rescuing me?"

Shikamaru answered "We did, last night while you were still in the hospital we went to get our payment after Asuma-sensei filed the report."

"I don't mean to barge in but, since no rent is necessary here, what do you guys spend the money on?"

"Me, I spend it mostly on groceries and food!"

Naruto was not surprised when Chōji said this, he did look like he enjoyed food far more than he did, he chuckled.

"What about you Shikamaru?"

"Even been to Nara?"

"Heard of it only."

"My clan is very old, that city was founded by them hundreds of years ago, it's mostly a historical place now but I use most of what I earn to help with the restoration."

"Wait… so your family owns a city?!"

Shikamaru scratched the back of his head feeling somewhat embarrassed.

"Kinda, honestly it's such a drag, technically we don't 'own' it, the government does, our clan just runs it a bit."

"Wow… I couldn't imagine, but doesn't that like, mean you clan has more than enough resources?"

"If you're wondering why I'm here instead of Nara the answer is simple, my family was also here when Konoha was founded, and not only us, the Hyuuga, Uchiha, Senju and many other clans helped were also present that day so Konoha is also my home, it's the life I chose to lead."

Naruto pondered on those words, home, family, clan, they all evaded him. While his family was still out there somewhere, he vaguely remembered what it was like to have them around, now that he thought about, things he was supposed to remember as a child like for example their first trip outside of the city or a birthday celebration with them were nonexistent, strangely enough he remembered what he told Ino earlier, it became one of the last conversations he remembered with his mother Kushina.

"You okay there?"

Naruto snapped out of his train of thought and smiled rubbing the back of his head.

"Yeah, I'm good, I was thinking about a good guide or book that could help me with chakra basics, I don't want Ino to think I'm slacking tomorrow."

"Here, this should help."

Chōji reached for a bookshelf and pulled an old small book, on the cover it read 'Chakra Control' without an author, he handed the book to Naruto.

"You'll probably be able to read it in less than 2 hours, the rest is practice, just get used to the material and call us if you need any pointers."

"Huh? Are you guys going out again?"

"Yeah, Asuma-sensei told us earlier he needed to speak with us about something so we'll be out for a while, hopefully we won't take long."

"But what of I need you guys for something like Chōji said?"

"Just don't blow up the house and you'll be fine."

Shikamaru said trying not to smirk "After your display with the Hokage today, I'm sure you can handle yourself pretty well."

"Huh? I'm not so sure, I took a trashing honestly!" he said with a chuckle, both Shikamaru and Chōji now looked confused by that statement, they looked at each other wondering if Naruto had somehow hit his head, this took place just less than one hour ago and unless he had a cranial trauma or a similar condition it was impossible he could have forgotten the events.

"You mean, you don't… remember anything?"

"I don't know what you mean, all I remember was me stuck on the ground from neck to toes."

"I see… in any case, that book should keep you busy, there's food on the fridge if you want to cook something and if you intend to go out, the spare key is over the door frame outside, we'll see ya later on."

With that said, Shikamaru raised his arm in sign of farewell as did Chōji, both friends left the house right after, leaving the spike haired blonde by himself. Naruto figured it was best to start reading that book and get to practice since he had nothing else to do, however he kept wondering why they looked so confused when he stated what he remembered.

Outside of the house and already on their way to meet their sensei, Shikamaru and Chōji walked the streets with questioning looks painted all over their faces, the first one to talk was Chōji.

"Do you think he's lying?"

"I doubt it, he doesn't seem the type, we'll have to ask Asuma-sensei later, maybe he'll know."

* * *

"It is a great honor to have you visiting my home prime minister Kaneko." Fugaku bowed.

"Please Fugaku, let's skip the formalities, you know why I'm here."

The prime minister was the type of politician anyone would expect, old, bald, well dressed, confident and very arrogant, he sat on one of the chairs in front of Fugaku's desk looking at him with a condescending smile.

"I do, and honestly I wasn't expecting your visit but in any case..." He sat and reached for an envelope inside one of the cabinets and handed it over to the prime minister "This is what you came for right?" the prime minister immediately rose his hands waving them.

"Oh no no, you misunderstand me Fugaku, I didn't come here for that, I would've told you so if that were the case, this is a bit of a more, 'delicate' matter."

Fugaku looked confused "Something wrong?"

"Yes, very wrong, you see, I'm sure you're aware of last month's failed attempt to murder the Emperor's youngest daughter."

"I'm well aware."

"Well, I remembered we promised the Emperor we would find out who attempted to kill the child and as such, we reached to you and you promised to help us, you see, I spoke with the Emperor this morning, he's very upset about the time that has passed and he's asking for results."

"We're working on that, it's not that simple to find the one responsible for it in the country, even with our resources."

"I'm sure it isn't Fugaku, but you see, the Emperor is now demanding results, he wants to see something, a capture, make headlines, he wants to let the nation know whoever is behind this will be punished severely."

"And how would that help him? The real person behind the attempt will most likely have more liberty to move around if someone else is framed and worse, might try to do it again."

"Doesn't matter."

"Doesn't matter?"

The prime minister adjusted himself and leaned closed to the desk.

"No it doesn't, to be honest with you, I don't care what happens to the Imperial family, heck, most of the Kokkai representatives don't care either, but we still have an Emperor to take care of and we need to show him results in order for us to move forward."

"Move forward with what? And exactly how would Uchiha Corporation fit in all of this?"

"I'm glad you asked that, you see, after the announcement today about your son, you'll be available to start your political career soon, isn't that what you initially wanted?"

Fugaku stopped speaking and pondered hard on those words, while it was true he was one of the richest and most powerful men in Japan, he was not nearly as powerful as a politician was, all the plans he had, the ideas he developed, he could implement them better if he had a place on the Kokkai, or National Diet, Japan's legislature of two assemblies.

"Is that still an option for me?"

"Of course it is, we discussed that some time ago remember? I didn't forget. All we're asking is for you to give us something, someone to frame, to keep the Emperor happy for now."

"That's easy, there are plenty of nobodies out there who could fit the role you need to present."

"It's... not that simple Fugaku. We need... one of those guys you call a 'Shinobi'."

"And why would that be necessary?" The Uchiha leader raised an eyebrow.

"The Emperor is well aware of this Shinobi business, since his family is so old, they have seen their share of people with certain 'abilities' and based on yesterday's events on the news, well... "

Fugaku stiffened.

"All witnesses coinciding about what they saw last night is too much to be a coincidence and it gave him the reminder of who we need to go after, you see what I mean?"

"You expect me to sacrifice someone innocent to please the emperor... Fine, but it'll take me at least a week to get that person, no more, no less. "

"You didn't even hesitate, I like that about you Fugaku. One week then, no problem, I assure you once this is handled we'll talk again about your political aspirations, you will not regret it." the prime minister smiled innocently. Fugaku only remained silent.

"Will there be anything else prime minister?"

"When this is taken care of, I'll drop by to visit. Oh..."

He reached for the envelope that Fugaku had pulled earlier and stood up from the chair.

"Nice place by the way!"

He walked to the door and left the office and soon the mansion, Fugaku remained on his chair deep in thought about his next move, while he deeply loathed the idea of giving up one of his own kin just to appease the imperial family, he knew it would take him one step further into his ambitions.

Neither man however, noticed at any point that Sasuke had been walking through the hallway during their conversation and had stopped just in time to listen behind the door, he ghosted as soon as the prime minister's footsteps were heard.

" _What the hell is my father doing?!_ " he thought.

* * *

The Hokage's office fell silent, for the past ten minutes all that had been discussed there was about the development of the day in the form of Naruto. Apparently his powers were an important topic he needed to discuss with Asuma and his team, who were being at the moment put in charge of making sure he got used to his surroundings and new life.

"Are you sure dad?"

"Positive, I honestly don't know if Minato taught him that move but he definitely displayed the same power of the Hiraishin, his movements and speed were almost the same."

"I thought the Hiraishin required a seal to be performed, how is he able to do it without a seal?" Shikamaru asked.

"What's a Hiraishin?"

Everyone looked at Chōji in surprise, Shikamaru sighed and remembered his friend always spent his free time eating rather than updating himself on events.

"Flying Thunder God, it's the name of a jutsu Naruto's dad created years ago, it allows him to teleport instantly to any place."

"Almost any place Shikamaru." Now Asuma spoke "He needs a seal to be placed in an object or even a person for him to teleport there when he wants, the jutsu itself is extremely efficient and was designed as an instant kill move."

"So Naruto's dad is..."

"He's killed before Chōji, yes, while on mission and only when required, he's not a monster if that's what you're thinking."

"No! Not at all, just surprised is all, I always thought he was a biologist ya know, just a researcher for Konoha."

"He is, but he's also a Shinobi, and as such, Naruto absorbed some of his traits it seems, even if it was not a Hiraishin, his speed and movement were oddly similar to it."

"You think this is some sort of new jutsu?" Asuma asked his father.

"No, rather, I suspect his chakra properties are different, he's an Uzumaki, remember what that clan is famous for?"

"Seals..." Shikamaru said.

"Precisely, I might be getting ahead of myself but when we fought I felt a chakra burst somewhat... different, similar to a bloodline power but not quite, the Uzumaki clan didn't possess one."

"I'm guessing you want me to find out exactly what his power is, right dad?"

"Not just you Asuma, Shikamaru, Chōji and Ino as well, now that he's here, not just his training but the way he sees the world will be affected by all of you, I entrust you can ease this process for him?"

"Well if you ask me, I don't have a problem Hokage-sama, he seems like a nice guy so we'll get along great as friends, right Chōji?"

His friend happily nodded.

"What about you Asuma?"

"Don't worry about me dad, I'll be honored to have one more apprentice under my wing, and I'm sure Ino will be fine with it too, she might not say it but it shows she worries about him."

Hiruzen smiled. "Then it's settled, as of today, team Asuma becomes a five-man cell, your mission, until further notice, will be to help Naruto become one of us."

"You can count on us!" Asuma gave his father a thumbs up.

"Good, Asuma, I need to have a word with you, Shikamaru, Chōji, you may leave..."

Both young members of the team nodded and went out of the office, Asuma closed the door behind them and waited until their steps were no longer heard.

"Something wrong dad?"

Hiruzen stood from his chair and walked over to one of the windows, he pulled his pipe and and took a long smoke from it, he let the air slowly be released from his lungs.

"I need you to keep a particular close eye on Naruto."

"You sound almost worried." Asuma smiled but soon dropped it when his father did not change his expression.

"There is a power hidden within his chakra I've never seen before, it could be just a coincidence..."

Asuma turned serious as his old man.

"You tested his abilities right? What happened?"

"At the beginning, nothing unusual, but then..." he turned to face his son "It's one in a million chances, remember he's an Uzumaki."

"You're not talking about a bloodline are you?"

"No, his clan was known for other abilities, not a bloodline, still... just keep a close eye on him and let me know if you notice something different."

Asuma was not entirely sure what his father was talking about, he was well aware of the Uzumaki clan's history, he knew they had specialized in certain arts like sealing and chakra control, yet this sounded more like something new, the Hokage was an old man, during his lifetime he had seen several thing that did not surprise him anymore, Asuma could not remember the last time he saw him concerned about anything.

"Alright, I'll report if anything extraordinary happens with him, would that be all father?

"Jiraiya sent a message, he's on his way to the village, I want Naruto to meet him when he arrives..."

"What?! Jiraiya-sama is coming back? I thought he was still in India!"

"He found it..."

Asuma's eyes widened "So, does that mean..."

"Yes, we need to make preparations soon."

* * *

"Dad?"

Ino arrived to her house later after buying some groceries that afternoon, she lived with her father, Inoichi, the leader of the Yamanaka clan and one of the strongest Shinobi in Konoha, he was also a broken man since his wife, Ino's mother, Noriko, had passed away last year. Ino took the news a lot better than people had expected but Inoichi on the other hand, became a very depressed man, while he managed to keep his mask on for most people, his daughter could easily see though it, being part of a clan that could read minds did the task only easier although she never used her techniques for such thing, despite the circumstances she respected her father too much to even think about reading his private thoughts, his face as all she needed to read his emotions, it could have been a lot worse, that's what she always thought to herself.

"Dad, are you home?"

Again there was no answer, she proceeded to walk into the kitchen and lay down her bags, she noticed through the window her father was actually outside watering some plants in the garden, the patio door was closed explaining why he did not hear her calling, she slid the door open and walked over to his dad, as the spoiled daughter she sometimes was, she put her hand on her hip and acted like she was mad with him.

"I called you."

Her faked expression turned into concern when her father stood up to face her, the light in his eyes had all but extinguished that day, his skin was sallow, his eyes sunken, his hair was losing some of his natural color, yet he stood there looking at his daughter as if everything was fine.

"I'm sorry darling, I didn't hear you, how was your mission?"

She was hesitant to answer, at the moment her only concern was her father's well being and from what she saw, he looked like he was about to collapse any second.

"It... went well dad, what are you doing out here?"

"Oh, I was just making sure the plants had enough water, rain has been absent for a couple of days so I was a bit concerned..."

"You know I water the plants almost everyday dad, that's my job, is there something you'd like to tell me?"

Inoichi sighed once she asked, she was too good at reading people, she got that talent from him.

"You know what day is today don't you?"

"Dad... you need to move on, we both do." She placed both her hands on his cheeks "She wouldn't want to see you like this and you know it."

"I know, I just... I keep asking myself everyday why she had to leave us, and well, today is especially harder not to think about her when an exact year has passed." His eyes went to look at the ground but Ino nudged him gently to make them refocus on hers.

"Thinking about it isn't gonna bring her back and I'm still here, I need my dad with me..." she smiled, Inoichi's lifeless eyes regained some of its fire. "More important dad... I found Naruto, he was in Tokyo."

His eyes went wide.

"That was your mission? Please! Tell me everything!"

"Let's go inside, I'll make us both lunch."

Ino took her father's hand and guided him back inside the house, once in the kitchen she took out some of the groceries she had bought earlier as well as some cooking utensils. She took out some raw fish first and started slicing it into thin pieces.

"So how is he?"

"He's fine dad, he was surviving on his own, fighting in some underground club who knows for how long..."

"Does he...?"

"No... he doesn't remember."

"Will you let him know now that he's here?"

"It's not up to me dad, and I don't know if it's a good idea right now, Hokage-sama believes Uchiha Corp is after him, some men with guns tried to take him away last night."

"Uchiha Corp?"

"They're after Minato-san and Kushina-san, they found one of the Bijuu hiding somewhere in the country and we believe Naruto is just the bait."

"Is Naruto able to fight?" Inoichi asked deep in thought.

"He's good but against another Shinobi, I doubt he could win, I'm going to start training with him tomorrow, maybe he'll remember at least what he's capable of."

Inoichi raised on of his eyebrows, Ino as a teacher? that was an interesting scenario, after all, his daughter was not known for being the most patient Shinobi, especially if Naruto was a stubborn boy just like he remembered him. Inoichi shuddered at the thought.

"Don't be rough on him Ino Yamanaka, I know what you're like." Inoichi smirked, for a moment Ino felt happy, at least his humor was still there.

"Me? I would never!" she said with an innocent tone.

"Thank you..."

"For what?" She asked confused.

"For cheering up your old man." His smile returned.

"Don't mention it dad, I'm making us both Sashimi, this will REALLY cheer you up!"

* * *

Around three hundred plus kilometers from the city center of Tokyo, a quiet paradise rests in the middle of the Pacific ocean known as Aogashima, an island formerly known as a volcano, now a small inhabited community and town surrounded by water. Truly, this was any adventurer's dream, the views were incredible and due to the small presence of humans, this place remained mostly unchanged. Minato and Kushina were no adventurers however.

Once every week Minato would go to the small town to get supplies for both, he insisted it was better if he went alone, he joked with his wife about being stealthier and less impulsive than her, he did not lie however and Kushina was thankful he was the entire opposite of her when it came to personality traits, she was like Yin and Minato was Yang, they complemented each other perfectly. The local town thankfully had television and radio to keep them informed about anything happening elsewhere in the world so they would not be or feel isolated.

Kushina Uzumaki currently found herself staring at the blue ocean enjoying the majestic view provided thanks to that day's clear skies, they had moved not too long ago to the island but decided to stay away from the locals living at the top of the island and instead built a small cabin from where they could see the only port available, the island itself had a heliport but most of the time it was filled with curious tourists and for the sake of their safety, Kushina convinced her husband it was better to keep a minimum contact with any person.

Her thoughts were ever present on her son, Naruto, she was always worried about him and even though she was almost certain he probably hated them at the moment for vanishing the way they did, she never stopped thinking about him for even a day, even if he could not understand that what they did was to keep him away from danger. Sadly that day, she would realize it was a mistake.

Minato arrived to the cabin and noticed his red headed wife staring sadly at the ocean waves as they gently crashed against the island's rocks.

"I'm back, did any of them contact you?"

"No..." She turned around to face her husband with a smile "How did it go?"

"I got us a few things for the week, we'll be fine..."

Kushina noticed something in his tone of voice was different, she had a sixth sense for these things.

"Is something wrong...?"

Minato remained silent, he walked past his wife without looking at her and entered the cabin to lay to rest the things he had bought earlier, he motioned Kushina to follow him inside, now she was starting to worry.

"Minato talk to me, is it Naruto?"

"... I watched the news while I went into town... Last night they reported a car chase in Tokyo, the traffic cameras caught two teenagers speeding on the highway using a motorcycle... One of them was Naruto..."

Kushina froze, immediately her brain went wild with potential outcomes.

"Where is he?!"

"I don't know... there is no way to know right now, Ino was with him though so I can only assume..."

"They went to Konoha... That means Fugaku knows..." Her eyes sadly diverted to the floor "Do you think..?"

"Worst case scenario, he went after our son to lure us out, he knows we found the Kyuubi..."

Minato and Kushina had ventured over a year ago in an expedition to find plants across the Pacific islands for medical treatments and potential vaccines or medicines, never in their wildest dreams either one thought they would come face to face with the Kyuubi in one of these trips. They accidentally met the creature hidden deep within a cave in South Iwo Jima, a far away island in the Pacific ocean that was completely void of human presence, thanks to their sealing abilities they managed to prevent a potential catastrophe, due to the gargantuan amount of chakra however, it was necessary to split it in two so they could both seal each half within them, the experiment almost killed them but Kushina's chakra managed to save them both.

"We need to go back, Naruto might be..."

"Kushina..." He grabbed his wife by her shoulders "He's safe, if we go back we'll be handing Fugaku what he wants and he could find and destroy Konoha, we can't let that happen."

"You're right... He's going to become like us eventually, we wanted to avoid that..." She responded sadly looking down to her feet.

"Life doesn't always go as planned, does it?" He smiled kindly to his wife, she took a moment to realize he was right and return the smile "Don't worry about him, we'll see Naruto eventually, for now let's make dinner, want to help me?"

Kushina nodded happily.

* * *

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto**

 **THE PLOT IS FINISHED!**


	7. Getting Ready

Morning came and Ino knocked outside of the house where her friends and Naruto lived, she was almost certain the blonde was still asleep and confirmed her suspicions when a yawning Chōji opened the door instead.

"Ino?" he said almost yawning.

"Hey Chōji, I'm here for Naruto, I'm guessing he's still sleeping?"

"Oh right, Naruto, yeah, he must be in bed still."

She sighed, one of the many things not just her but any girl disliked the most was being kept waiting, she went past her teammate without uttering a word clearly upset looking for his bedroom and started knocking on the door hard.

"Hey Naruto! Open up! It's Ino!"

She could hear a faint mumble from the other side of the door and then nothing, a small vein popped up on her forehead and she raised her voice, she took a deep breath this time also hitting the door louder.

"OPEN THE DAMN DOOR NARUTO UZUMAKI!"

She heard a loud thump followed by complaints of pain from the boy, before she had to kick the door open, and she was about to, Naruto emerged from the room wearing a t shirt and long boxers, he scratched his right eye and yawned, still unaware of the venomous glare the girl in front of him had. It took him a moment to realize who it was, then he gulped.

"Did you forget I was coming?!" Naruto was about to speak in defense but Ino raised one of her hands to hush him "I don't want to hear your excuses! Just put something on! NOW!"

She walked away from him huffing and almost stomping the floor until she was again out of the house. Both Chōji and Naruto remained silent for a moment still unsure of what had happened until the Akimichi boy broke the ice.

"Better not to keep her waiting any longer, get dressed."

"But I need to take a shower!"

"Forget the shower, you're gonna be sweating anyways, just put something on and go!"

Naruto decided it was best to take Chōji's advice and went back to his room to find something to wear, since his options were limited for the moment, he took some sweatpants and a white t shirt along with the sandals everyone else wore, once ready he bolted to the kitchen and looked for something to eat inside the fridge, a slice of ham and cheese made the deal right away, he put them both in his mouth and took off without saying goodbye to Chōji, he simply chuckled.

Of course Ino was upset waiting impatiently outside with her back turned and arms crossed, Naruto took the piece of ham and cheese from his mouth to speak.

"Ino I'm truly sorry! I-"

"I said I don't wanna hear it! Just come with me."

She leaped to a nearby rooftop and Naruto followed in silence, he knew he needed to find a way to make up for the mistake, the last thing he wanted was for the woman who was about to train him to have a bad mood for the rest of the day. He ate his 'breakfast' along the way and both teenagers eventually reached a location that looked a lot like a student academy, Ino stopped in front of one of the buildings.

"This is the Training Hall, the academy is closed for today so nobody should interrupt us, let's go…"

Ino pushed the doors and disappeared inside the structure, not wanting obviously to stay out there by himself Naruto followed, he was surprised when he found inside an enormous statue of two hands performing a seal inside the building, the floor was made of stone and had been restored recently by the looks of it since some of the tiles looked brand new.

"Hey Ino, look I'm sorry about earlier, I spent all night reading about chakra control and wanted to be ready for today, I just didn't want to look like a fool..."

"You already did by making me wait…" it was very clear her frustration would not go away anytime soon, she took off her coat and tossed it aside revealing a different outfit underneath, a small pair of grey leggings that enhanced the perfect shape of her legs and backside, to complete it her grey cropped tank top revealed a well toned abdomen and belly, she started stretching her limbs, Naruto gulped at the sight, his blush very evident, yet he could not help but notice the several scars all over her torso.

"Ino, you…"

"Are you gonna warm up or keep staring all day?"

Now his face went full red of embarrassment, he nervously started warming up with his back turned to the blonde girl, she found his antics amusing and for a moment let a smile escape her but tried to remind herself she was still mad with him, thankfully with his back turned he did not notice.

A few minutes passed and then Ino stopped.

"All right, show me what you learned." She took a strange fighting stance right away, Naruto, confused, stopped in the middle of his warm up but decided not to argue with her and also raised his arms in a fighting pose. "And don't you dare to hold back on me, I'm not as merciful as Hokage-sama."

* * *

"How did it go?"

"Oh, great material old man! Beautiful women I tell you!"

The Hokage was currently speaking with a very special man, Jiraiya the Frog Hermit, a tall and well-built man with fair skin, spiky white hair tied back into a pony tail with two shoulder-length bangs framing his face, red lines under his eyes which extended going all the way to the bottom of his face. Well respected, trustworthy and efficient, a man very well in his fifties but with the spirit of any teenager, as joyful and energetic as any of them. Also a huge pervert.

"I meant your mission Jiraiya…"

"Oh that… well, It's the real thing Sarutobi-sensei."

Hizuren's expression changed to one of worry.

"So the legends are true…"

"I'm afraid so, still, I placed a seal in the entire place so it remains undisturbed, and the location itself is not easy to find so I doubt anyone who isn't a Shinobi can get there."

"You understand what could happen if Fugaku Uchiha knew about this right?"

"Ah, Wicked Eye Fugaku Uchiha… I hate saying 'I told you so' but you should've dealt with him years ago."

"You know that's not my way of doing things…"

"And here we are…"

The room went quiet for a moment, then the door opened and three elderly persons came in, these were the Hokage's advisors who also formed a part of the council of Konoha, Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane, two grey haired and wrinkled Shinobi wearing kimonos and lastly came Danzo Himura, a frail old man who supported himself with a cane to walk, black, shaggy hair, his right eye bandaged and an x-shaped scar on his chin, he wore a dark grey robe over the top of a white shirt covering from his feet to just over his right shoulder.

"Ah, I was wondering when you old geezers would show up."

"Jiraiya!"

"It's fine Hiruzen." Spoke Homura raising his hand to signal the Hokage not to worry "Jiraiya, you know why we're here."

"I sure do grandpa." Homura's right eyebrow twitched "Mission report right? As I was telling Sarutobi-sensei, I was able to find what you guys were looking for, the rumors were true, it exists, I took preventive measures to make sure no one can reach it." he smirked.

"Did anyone follow you?" Koharu asked.

"No, the locals did mention however other men before me had come asking about a temple, I didn't see anyone there when I arrived."

"Where is it?"

"..." Jiraiya remained silent, he looked over to the Hokage to read his expression and make sure he could speak, the Hokage nodded "Aurangabad, India."

"Where exactly?" Asked now Danzo, his only visible eye narrowed.

"That, Danzo, Is information I'd rather only give the Hokage, while I'm well aware all of you have a position of authority here, I only report to him and him alone." he responded with a huge grin, Danzo was not amused by his answer.

"More important Jiraiya..." Hiruzen intervened before the topic continued "The son of Minato is here in Konoha, I'd like you to meet him."

"Oh? So you brought the brat here eh?"

"At Minato's request, he wanted us to protect him in case something happened to him or Kushina."

"Speaking of Minato... Any news from them?"

"That's precisely also why he's here, they sent a message only he can decode, it might give us a clue of where they're at now."

Surprisingly the elders were not aware of this last piece of information and were eager to start questioning the boy as soon as they could, typical way of thinking coming from them.

"Where is he now? We must question him." Koharu said.

"He's training with Ino Yamanaka right now and whatever questions you have for him, I'm sure he cannot answer them right now."

Koharu and Homura narrowed their eyes, the Hokage's answer was not precisely what they wanted to hear, Jiraiya took notice of their reaction and tried his best to hide his smile to no avail.

"Ino Yamanaka is a ruthless Shinobi, what can the boy learn from her?"

"They share a chakra affinity, are around the same age and Naruto trusts her more than anyone else here in the village, I see no reason why she isn't an adequate partner."

"She's a monster, you know that Hiruzen..."

"Her past should not be an issue Homura, besides..." he turned to Jiraiya "Jiraiya trained his father years ago, I'm sure he can lend a hand, don't you agree?"

Jiraiya had indeed trained Minato when he was a younger lad, technically with Naruto it would be almost the same pattern should he train him.

"That's up to the kid to decide, anyways, I'm off, I feel like I'm getting older already just by being here, later."

Jiraiya walked out the Hokage's office through the window instead as the other elders were still close to the main door and he felt the need to avoid them no matter how, Hiruzen found this amusing despite trying to keep face with the council elders, they were his friends in youth after all.

"Is this Naruto kid reliable?" asked Danzo.

"We'll find out eventually, for now he's still very young but if Minato asked us to look out for him, there must be a reason, he would not abandon the boy like that."

"It looks like he did anyway..."

Hiruzen remained silent.

* * *

"Gah!"

Naruto landed on his back yet again, exhausted from all his failed attempts to land a single hit, he knew Ino was stronger than he was from the start but she really meant her words, she was not merciful at all. Ino herself was somehow disappointed with the spar, while she had to admit Naruto's chakra control had improved vastly in just one night, she could not help but feel he failed to deliver, deep down she wanted to face the same Naruto who cornered the Hokage a day earlier, not this Naruto who did not show any signs of that power, maybe it was because of her, maybe Naruto could not force himself to bring out such force against her, who knew.

"Why did I beat you?"

"You're-" he struggled to sit up, breathing heavily "You're too fast..."

"My speed has nothing to do with it, you saw all my movements but hesitated to block my attacks, why?" she started to undo her bandaged hands.

Naruto kept a moment of silence, he tried to figure out an answer, she was right, despite her tremendous speed his eyes managed to keep up with her at all times but his body did not react to even try blocking even once, he did counter her punches or kicks but never landed a single hit as Ino yet again came back with a counter of her own, she was just that good, still he knew that was not the real reason he lost.

"I..."

"You hesitated in every opportunity you had, you didn't do that with Hokage-sama..."

"I know you told me to take it seriously, and believe me I did... I just couldn't get myself to hit you..."

Ino sighed "If this is because I'm a girl-"

"It's not that... I know you're fierce and strong, It's just... I can't do it, I just can't." he looked down in shame, Ino on the other hand was out of things to say, she did not expect Naruto's behavior, for a moment she actually felt concerned it could be something deeper, maybe feelings had gotten the best of him.

" _Is he...?_ "

"I don't know if this training will work Ino." he stoop up and dusted himself "Asuma-sensei is also a wind type right? think I can talk to him?"

"So it has to do with me... you don't want me to train you..." she frowned and Naruto immediately regretted his words, he frantically waved his arms in panic.

"N-No! It's not like that! You're great and all!" she was not buying it and turned her back to leave the area.

"I'm going to take a shower, we can go talk with Asuma-sensei afterwards, just wait here..."

Naruto was no expert but he could almost swear her voice sounded sad. He wanted to say something back, make sure his words were appropriate but at this point he knew Ino would not care, women were that stubborn. He watched as she disappeared behind a door probably leading to the changing and shower area, as soon as she was out of sight Naruto went back to rest against the cold floor, still trying to keep his breathing in check, he stared at the ceiling in silence when a voice interrupted him.

"You don't know much about talking to women do you brat?"

Naruto was still on his back and tilted his head upward from his position, he saw the reverse figure of a tall man with white long hair and a strange outfit leaning on the door's side with arms crossed, he could tell he was smirking as he looked back at him, the blond boy quickly rose up from the ground and dusted himself as if trying to appear casual.

"Can I help you with something old man?"

"Well, Sarutobi-sensei suggested I should come take a look at you and see if perhaps I could train you." He said as he walked over to Naruto

"And who are you supposed to be?" Naruto raised an eyebrow unimpressed, Jiraiya only smiled.

* * *

Shikamaru's morning was no different today than the others, he woke up, took a shower, got dressed and, unless called by his sensei, went to a park nearby to lay back on the grass and stare at the sky as long as he could, training was not something consistent for him, what was the point if they all died anyway? Ino had always criticized him for his lack of commitment as a Shinobi of Konoha, he rarely trained choosing to spend his time slacking off rather, even in missions his job was minimal as the sniper of the team, he rarely engaged in direct combat and when he did, he always had backup. His life was not complicated and he never looked to make it that way, in his own words, it was 'troublesome'.

"I thought we were supposed to train with Asuma-sensei later."

The voice from Chōji woke him back to reality, he tilted his head and saw his friend standing next to him with his usual smile, he took a seat next to Shikamaru.

"He said he'd be looking into Naruto's training method so perhaps we won't see him again today."

"Seems everyone is concerned with Naruto's progress."

"They have a reason for that Chōji, he's the son of the Yellow Flash, a lot is expected from him."

"I almost feel sorry for Naruto, to have that weight over your shoulders just because of your father's reputation..."

"Indeed, still, Hokage-sama is only protecting him, once he's ready he can decide for himself if he wants to stay here or not."

"Well, as far as I understand he's here because someone is after him right? Hokage-sama mentioned something about Uchiha Corporation."

"Likely but not yet proven, and if he had stayed in Tokyo he'd probably be human bait or worse, doesn't mean he can't leave when he's ready for it, not everyone is suited for this place after living for so long somewhere else."

Chōji took out from one of his pockets a bag of potato chips, he opened them and offered some to Shikamaru who silently declined, he then proceeded to eat by himself.

"Who is his father? The Yellow Flash?"

Shikamaru went deep in thought before replying.

"He's an elite Shinobi of the village, never had a chance to meet him but my dad worked with him in the past, he told me he is the kind and caring type of person who loves his family more than anything, yet he's also a fierce and relentless with his enemies, a feared assassin because of that jutsu, the Hiraishin."

"If he loves his family so much, why did he abandon his son? Doesn't make sense..."

"At this point Chōji, we'd only be making assumptions, maybe it was an emergency or maybe he's just on a really long mission right now, if Hokage-sama thinks that information should not be shared with us then we have to accept it."

"Well... I doubt he'll leave anyway."

"What do you mean?" Shikamaru asked curiously looking at his friend's expression.

"Ino."

Shikamaru kept quiet for a moment the laughed politely as to not get the attention of people passing by.

"What's so funny?"

"You honestly think there's something going on there?"

"For a smart guy Shikamaru, you seem to know very little about girls."

"Well, I don't know about them because understanding them is troublesome, especially someone like Ino."

"I'm just saying, she doesn't look at him like any other guy, the night we brought him here, when he went into the hospital..."

Shikamaru recalled those events, in reality he was also concerned about Naruto's health that night which is why he did not pay attention to Ino, aside from her bloody hands.

"I remember she was worried about him that night, didn't seem unusual to me."

"Maybe I'm wrong, maybe I'm just imagining things..."

"Hey, just because only you noticed, doesn't mean you're wrong."

Their conversation was interrupted by a pink haired girl who had just arrived to the park, Shikamaru gave his friend a look to let him know the topic would be best kept quiet for now, they were not about to turn it into senseless gossip.

"Did you guys hear? Jiraiya-sama is back in the village!" Sakura said excitedly.

"What? Jiraiya the Toad Sage?!" Chōji asked genuinely surprised., Shikamaru rose from his spot in curiosity.

* * *

" _Why would this kid be involved with the Uchiha?_ "

Anko held a frame with the most recent picture of Naruto and his parents happily posing, her team had arrived that morning to his apartment looking for any indication of his whereabouts, several police officers walked past her while talking to other people over their phones, pictures were being taken of the entire place, boxes with several documents were confiscated, all of this while she silently examined the picture.

"Anko-senpai! Take a look at this..."

Iruka caught her attention when he came running into the living room of the complex. He handed her a couple of photographs, she set the portrait aside.

"These were taken one hour before the highway accidents, look..."

"That girl again... she was waiting for him..."

"Now look at these..." Again Iruka handed her another set of photos showing the pair eating at Yakiniku Q "They dined together around 25 minutes later here, then they left in a hurry..." The next set of photos show an empty table as well as armed men entering the restaurant.

"The dead bodies on the rooftop..."

"Yes but that's not all, the first pictures were taken at Kabukicho, he was just leaving a complex before they met, an underground fight club known as the Ryūjin, owner of the place is a guy called only Chen."

"Good." she handed the pictures back to Iruka and started leaving as he followed "I want a team on the opposite building to watch over this place in case someone comes back." She secretly placed a paper seal on the right wall of the hall that immediately camouflaged itself without anyone noticing "Call me immediately if somebody comes sniffing around, understand?"

"Where are you going senpai?"

"I need to take a call."

Anko went past the policemen and exited the apartment until she was no longer on ear's reach, down one of the hallways she took out her vibrating phone and answered it.

"Please tell me it's good news..."

" _The fuel was purchased by Uchiha corp over a month ago at Narita International, whoever did it forgot to ask the staff_ _to erase the records because they were still in paper._ "

Anko could barely hold her excitement at Ebisu's words, this was a great development that could put in jeopardy Fugaku Uchiha's empire, she grinned like a little girl.

"You're the best Ebisu! Now I just need to find out where that helicopter is right now."

" _If a jutsu was used probably it's gone by now, why do you need to find it?_ "

"Because aside from the fuel, that thing is the only proof we have to link Uchiha Corp with the accidents on the highway, I'd like it very much to see those smug bastards pay for what they did."

From the corner of her eye she noticed a grey haired ponytail mixed among the officers in the distance and her mood immediately went sour.

"I'll call you back."

She put her phone away without losing sight of the person who she thought was Kabuto, the man was yet again sneaking into one of her cases without her knowledge and it was starting to get on her nerves, she started walking back to the apartment looking for him, once inside she saw again the grey haired ponytail and immediately went to grab him by the shoulder, she was ready to berate him right there and then but it turned out he was actually a she, the policewoman was startled by Anko's sudden shoulder grab.

"...Sorry, my mistake." she let go of the woman to let her continue doing her job.

"Something wrong senpai?" Iruka asked.

"Just thought I saw someone who should not be here."

"Ah, that Kabuto fellow you mentioned earlier?"

"Yeah... keep a sharp eye if you see him, here, at the station, everywhere, let's move."

"Where to?"

"We're gonna pay this Chen guy a visit."

Anko trusted few people inside the police and with the corrupt forces that moved it even fewer, Iruka had managed to gain her trust due to his reliability and incorruptible nature in the past, Ebisu was another rare case, he did not care for money or status, he only wanted to solve cases that were too difficult for the others. This was precisely the reason Kabuto made her feel uneasy, from day one he had shown openly an interest to ascend in his position by any means, making him a dangerous individual. Anko was almost certain he was there, spying without their knowledge.

She was right.

* * *

For the second time of the day Naruto found himself lying on the ground face up recovering his breath while Jiraiya casually smiled with confidence, he could not deny the boy's guts to fight, both had moved from the academy grounds to a more open area with far more space. The Toad Sage had decided to test him just like Ino had done earlier, only this time he noticed the flaw everyone else missed, his chakra was being suppressed for a reason only he was able to notice due to his experience.

"So I'll ask you, why did you lose?"

Was this some sort of joke? Ino had asked him the same question and he had been unable to give her an appropriate answer, why was this guy asking the same question if he had witnessed the previous spar? Naruto struggled to sit upwards and looked at Jiraiya incredulously.

"Look, it's the second time someone asks me that today, how about we cut the crap and you tell me?"

"You won't be able to progress if everything is spooned."

"I'm not a Shinobi like you okay? I'm just a guy trying to learn!" he was starting to get angry with all these trick questions, Jiraiya only sighed in defeat but tried a different approach.

"What do you usually feel when you gather chakra inside you?"

"Feel?" Naruto pondered for a second "Somehow like I can't amass the same amounts I read about in a book last night, I mean, I can't even do something like walk on walls! That's supposed to be easy right?" Jiraiya smiled again.

"Good., and why do you think that is?"

"I... don't know, it's like my chakra is..."

"Bound?"

Naruto looked up to Jiraiya surprised when he completed the sentence, excitedly he replied.

"Yes! Exactly!"

"Stand up kid." Naruto obliged

"Please tell me, how can I use my chakra correctly?"

"To be honest brat, you're already doing so, only you're being restrained by that seal."

"Seal?" he raised his eyebrow "What se- Guh!"

He was interrupted by Jiraiya's sudden hand thrust, with blue chakra emanating from all five of his fingertips and connecting them against where said seal apparently was, Naruto's belly.

" **Gogyō Kaiin!** **(** ** **Five Elements Unseal** )**"

Naruto stumbled a few steps back and fell on his backside, a trail of smoke coming from the area where he had just been hit, the pain was unbearable, both his hands covered the affected area as he tried to regain air but even breathing became painful, after a few seconds the sensation started to disappear, he gave Jiraiya an angry look.

"WHAT THE HELL?!"

"NARUTOOOOOO!"

The unmistakable voice of Ino reached both their ears, she arrived stomping and fuming while Jiraiya only looked curiously, Naruto on the other hand, gulped when she appeared.

"What the HELL is wrong with YOU?! Do you have issues with instructions or som... Jiraiya-sama?" she stopped mid sentence when she noticed the Toad Sage was with Naruto.

"Oh you must be Ino, sorry I took your boyfriend like that, I noticed he's having troubles with his training so the Hokage asked me to check up on him." He grinned exactly knowing what would come next as both teenagers went crimson red. both their voices joined together.

"HE'S NOT MY BOYFRIEND!"

"I'M NOT HER BOYFRIEND!"

"Oh? My bad then." He waived his had in a gesture of forgiveness as he innocently smiled "Anyway, Naruto, try to gather chakra now."

Naruto took a minute to let go of his embarrassment and anger before acknowledging the Sage's request. He formed a hand seal and immediately felt a different and powerful surge of chakra flowing freely through his body, so much that small portions of rock were flown away from his position. His amazement was written all over his face as well as Ino's.

" _He didn't do that when we sparred... did he do something?_ " she thought.

"Good, now see how you feel, if you know any jutsu, use it and notice the difference." Jiraiya said proudly.

Naruto obliged. He recalled one of the few jutsus he was able to read about the previous night and proceeded to clasp his hands together as he felt how the chakra compressed between them, before releasing it he made sure to aim to a clear area of the sky and avoid harming any birds in his paths.

" **Futon: Reppūshō! (Wind Release: Gale Palm)** "

The chakra in between his hands was released into a powerful gale that traveled at an alarming speed, Jiraiya for once was awed at this display of power Naruto presented, he did expect for his chakra to flow more freely, just not this... freely. The jutsu itself did not require much chakra to perform and it was usually used in combination with weapons to increase the deadliness rate, sometimes even directly against other opponents to sent them flying back a few meters, yet this boy was able to push his jutsu much further than any regular ninja he had ever seen, leaving a hole in the clouds in the process.

"What the hell...?" Ino whispered to herself in disbelief.

"Woah! Nice going kid!" Jiraiya said excitedly.

"Did I... really do that?" Naruto said in a low tone of voice as he maintained his right arm extended facing the open sky, he slowly lowered it and relaxed his position while he looked at both his hands impressed by his own display of power, he looked over to Jiraiya who was walking now to his location "What did you do?"

"I released the seal that was suppressing your chakra, I am impressed however, never seen such a strong Reppūshō before, still..." he looked over to the area where the clouds had been opened by Naruto just a minute ago "You need to polish your control a bit, with that much power you could seriously injure someone or worse."

Naruto figured at that moment that was probably the reason he had a seal in the first place, if his chakra was this strong, who could tell the damage he would cause if he ever lost control. He lowered his arms sadly wondering if this was the reason his parents disappeared instead of what he knew at that point.

"How did you notice I had a seal?"

"When we sparred kid, the moment we bumped chakras I noticed yours felt different, like it was being held back not by you but by something else... hey, what's wrong?" He noticed Naruto's mood change.

"Am I... Is something wrong with me?"

"Huh?"

"Why would I have a seal placed in me if not to avoid I hurt people? Did I do something wrong to have it?... Am I a monster or something...?" this last part he said with sadness in his voice as he lowered his eyes to the ground. Jiraiya placed both his hands on the boy's shoulders making him have eye contact with him again.

"Are you? Do you like hurting others?"

"What?"

"Is that your nature? Do you like hurting people?" He asked sternly.

"Of course not! I don't enjoy it!"

"Then why do you fight?"

"I... Just don't like stronger people taking advantage of weaker people, it makes me mad, that's all."

"That doesn't explain why you were fighting in an illegal club brat, that's what the last mission report says..." Jiraiya crossed his arms waiting for an explanation. Naruto turned his back and took a few steps away from the sage as he recalled the events.

"I saved an old man from being robbed one night, two guys with blades, they tried to stab me when I called them out but I defended myself and ended up beating them... The old man turned out to be the owner of one of those clubs, he said I had talent for fighting and that he could help me win money that way so I joined..." he turned to face Jiraiya who was listening attentively to his story "I was only trying to make a living since I was on my own you know, it was enjoyable and amusing to the people who went there to watch, it wasn't to me..." he resumed.

"Then no, you're no monster." Jiraiya said matter of factly to which Naruto only changed his serious expression to one of surprise "You're one heck of a strong brat, honestly I don't know why you had that seal in you or who put it there, maybe you're right, maybe someone was afraid of what you could do to others, but the way I see it kid, people are afraid of what they don't understand..." He grinned and used his thumb to point to himself "Me you see, I'm a curious individual, if anything I'd like to help you reach your potential!"

"You'd... really help me?"

"Of course kid, I am many things, but a liar is not one of them." He nodded.

Naruto smiled but then remembered Ino was still there, she was the one meant to train him, meant to help him. He looked over to where she was and noticed her expression was of worry at the time.

"I'd... like to talk with Ino first, she's helping me right now you know..." he said looking away from Ino, Jiraiya nodded again in approval as a signal he was free to go talk to her to which he did, as he approached her he also could tell she was internally in conflict, he was no mind walker like she was but he definitely read her expression as an open book. Ino however, was not worried at all about the change of teacher.

She was remembering certain events concerning Naruto and what she had just witnessed.

"Hey, I guess you heard that right?"

"Huh?" Ino stopped her thoughts and formed a pretended smile "Yeah, what of it?"

"I just wanted to make sure you were okay with it, I feel kinda bad if I just leave like that without your approval..."

"Approval? Naruto, Hokage-sama just sent one of the strongest Shinobi here to help you with your training, why would you need my approval for that? It's fine..."

"It's not about what the Hokage wants... it's a about what I want."

"Huh? What do you mean by that?" Now Ino was confused.

"I know this Jiraiya guy just did something to help me and I appreciate it, but you are the one who's training me now and I'd like to keep it that way, I feel like I can learn so much from you as well..."

"Naruto I..."

"Sorry to interrupt you two lovebirds but I couldn't help but overhear what you were saying and I think I have a solution..." both Naruto and Ino were startled by his voice, Jiraiya was casually walking over to them "How about Ino here helps you with your chakra control for a few hours per day and then I help you learn some new tricks afterwards? I'll speak with the Hokage about it, I'm sure he'll agree to it."

"Really Jiraiya-sama? Wouldn't we be taking too much time from you?"

"Not at all young lady! I just came back from a long mission and I'd like to stay in the village for a while so I see this as a win-win, what do you guys say?"

Naruto and Ino looked at each other wondering if the other person would agree, by their look and understanding they did and nodded in approval. Jiraiya was right, this was a win-win situation for all parties involved, Naruto would be getting the best method of training with an experienced ninja like Ino and a full fledged master as Jiraiya while at the same time both of them could fulfill the role the Hokage gave them and keep an eye on the spiked haired boy while he improved.

"Alright Jiraiya, We're up for it!" Naruto replied.

-0-

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto**

 **Hello there again, long time since my last update, sorry bout that, busy busy busy, anyways, working on the next couple of chapters right not, I am a a mess since I tend to write half of one and before I finish I start the next one and so on, this one took a while because I didn't like how I was writing it and had to change a couple of things, as I had mentioned in the last chapter, the plot of this story has already been finished but I will need to rely heavily on it to make sure I don't start making or leaving plot holes as we move on, only plot twits ;)**

 **Thanks for following the story and taking an interest, I'm writing this more for myself than anything but the messages and the fact that others like it is really appreciated, until next time!**


	8. The Truth

Sasuke had tried for the last couple of days to get into his father's office to no avail. Certain places inside the house were too well guarded, cameras were common outside of the mansion, but on the inside was something too much for the young dark haired boy, this was one of the reasons he disliked living there so much, no privacy.

It was a bit ironic that he thought that given the fact he wanted to intrude into his father's personal belongings but unlike his paranoid father, he had real motives to do so. For once, the last visit from none other than the Prime Minister of Japan was to say the least, odd, Sasuke was well aware of his father's political aspirations since he told him about leaving the company in his hands, what was odd about the entire scene was the fact that none other than the most important political figure in the country was assisting him in his dream, it could have been anyone else for that matter, why him?

Aside from that, the mention of assisting in providing a guinea pig for them to show results for the attempted crimes against the Imperial family made no sense, if they had the resources to locate the actual culprit, why cover it up by handing over an innocent person? What was the point if the real culprit was still at large and could attempt to assassinate one of the members again? What if he or she succeeded? How would he face the consequences of his lie against the government? against its own people and the rest of the world?

Sasuke had been lucky so far his father had not looked into the security footage lately, the recordings were kept on a hard drive in a storage room underground where he did not have access to, his main concern was the footage was automatically stored after 24 hours in said hard drive and it could take at least a month before it was deleted, he knew this as he was present when the security system was installed there years ago, the technician had mentioned it while he was there. He also knew the only way to disable the entire system was to sabotage it within that same room, and only one other person aside from Fugaku held an access key to that place, his friend Suigetsu.

"How long will you think my father will be away?"

"Two days total, he's going to Nagoya to meet with the Emperor himself, he's already flying there by now so I wouldn't worry for the time."

Both youngsters were currently walking down the steps of a wide corridor leading to the storage basement where an elevator had been installed, said machine led around two floors further down their current location, this was there the security room was located along with hard drive they needed.

"So tell me again Sasuke, why am I here?"

"Because I don't have access to that room and you, the head of my security, does, that simple."

"I seriously wonder sometimes how long I'll remain in that position until your dad decides to get rid of me..."

"Why would that happen if he's not gonna find out about it?"

"You know he could be watching us from anywhere he goes right? He has a laptop an all."

"While he's on a plane? Now you're starting to sound as paranoid as him, trust me, it won't take long."

Suigetsu sighed in defeat as they both reached the end of the corridor where the elevator door was, there was no button to call it, only a card access terminal attached to the wall, the same card Suigetsu held. He pressed it against the device and a green light surrounded it along with a short beeping sound, shortly the elevator's door opened.

"After you."

Sasuke went in and Suigetsu followed, then the doors closed and they reached their destination in less than a minute, once the doors opened again and both were out, another security access point in the form of a door blocked their path.

"I suppose my father has a reason to be as paranoid as he is..." Sasuke smirked.

"I know right? Who would have thought his own son and his bodyguard would come here to mess up his plans?" Suigetsu's tone was sarcastic of course.

He proceeded to open the door with his card and both entered the next room that lit up with blue light, the floor tiles were almost like a mirror, there was a single main computer with a big screen along with four server racks on each side and a chair in the middle.

"So how do you want to do this? Look for the dates and delete them?"

"Can't do that, my father checks the cameras every end of the week and if he notices missing dates he'll know we were up to something."

"Then what's your plan?"

"Aren't you an adept in water jutsu?" Sasuke smirked

Suigetsu raised an eyebrow and took a moment to realize what his friend meant, making his expression change into one of complete disbelief.

"Are you crazy?! This whole room costs thousands of Yen, your dad is going to kill us for this!"

"No he won't, we'll just tell him the cooling system failed, water evaporates in high temperatures right? By the time he comes back this place will be dry so he'll believe it was an internal failure that caused it."

"You're joking! Look Sasuke, even if that's the case, he can still go to the company that installed everything and get copies of the footage from scratch!"

"Way ahead of you, after we're done here you'll go there and bribe them to erase those copies as well, we'll leave no trace."

Suigetsu's jaw remained opened at how Sasuke kept dodging bullets one after another as if it was the most normal thing in the world for him, he knew better than to argue with him but this was really a dangerous move, he could not only lose his job, common jail was the least of his fears since he could easily escape it with his abilities, instead he could probably end up as one of Fugaku's experiments for the company, rumors around the staff were whoever worked for him and committed something that offended him simply disappeared without a trace, at this point Suigetsu had made enough trips with his boss to other facilities to confirm these were not rumors as he recognized some faces inside the tanks in the laboratories.

"I know I'm gonna regret this..." He said as he took some steps back and cupped his hands together with stretched arms outward at the computer.

" **Suiton: Mizu Arare! (Water Release: Water Hail)** "

A barrage of water bullets appeared out of thin air and ejected themselves towards the computer screen at a moderate speed controlled by Suigetsu, had he not done this the bullets would surely demolish the computer instead ruining the entire plan. Right away the servers started to release sparks all over and shut down, the screen itself went dark as the entire system continued to overload and have small explosions from within the chips, effectively and permanently damaging it, after a few seconds the room went silent, the blue lights turned into red ones.

"There, now what?"

"Now I go to my father's office and find out what he's up to."

"I'm sure you know the door is closed."

"I'm sure you know I can open it regardless."

"'sigh' Fine, lead on."

After leaving the room and going back to the surface, Sasuke and Suigetsu went immediately to the second floor where the main office was located, as Suigetsu had mentioned, the door was locked but Sasuke knew exactly how to open it.

"Give me your card."

"Huh? What for?"

"Just give me the damn card."

Suigetsu obliged and handed his access card to the raven haired Uchiha, Sasuke slid the card in between the vertical crack of the double door looking to make enough pressure on the doorknob to force it open which he did.

"Nice trick. I was almost expecting for you to blow up the door with a jutsu."

"You learn a lot on your free time, Stay here and keep an eye out." Sasuke replied.

He went over to the desk and to his surprise the drawers were unlocked, taking a seat on his father's chair he quickly pulled out several documents, he was not entirely sure of what he was looking for but looked them over regardless, he was hoping to find a hint or a clue as to what his old man was really doing. None of the documents showed anything suspicious or different from what he was used to seeing, he put the documents back where he found them. He was not going to give up so easily, as cliche as it was, he tried feeling for a button of sorts under the desk, again to his own surprise and amusement he found one, a short clicking sound came from the desk and Sasuke felt with his hand how the bottom of the upper drawer could slide. When he pulled it out a small notebook landed on the carpet, he examined the book and smirked as he felt he was now getting somewhere.

"Suigetsu, come here, what do you make of this?"

Suigetsu entered the office and took a glance at the notebook, it was filled with code names and yen amounts.

"Looks like a payment list to me , no idea about the names though..."

"So this is a bribe list, he's transferring millions of Yen to these people who knows how often, could be employees or anyone..."

"So what? that's not surprising within the corporate world, no offense."

"None taken, still..."

Sasuke flipped a couple of pages continuing to see the same pattern, no real names or connections to who they were and amounts of money next to them, only a few of the last pages were empty, it was not much to go on but at least he knew he was on to something.

"What are you gonna do with that?"

"Without real names this is meaningless, only father would know who these people are... wait!"

One of the names in the list caught Sasuke's attention.

"Orochimaru?"

"You know who that is?"

"A scientist who used to work for my father, why is he here thought? Look at the amount he's being paid."

"¥10000000?! This is per month?!" Suigetsu's eyes went wide as he read the notebook.

"Last I hear he wasn't even an employee anymore, unless this is blackmail..."

"Why would someone even think about blackmailing your dad? That's just suicide..."

"Only one way to know, we need to find him." Sasuke closed the book.

"Mmmmm... Ah!" Suigetsu pressed his closed punch under his open palm like he had just remember something important.

"What?" Sasuke asked with slight curiosity.

"I do remember now, your dad did mention that Orochimaru guy a couple of weeks ago when he attended one of his meetings, he was talking on the phone with someone and the name slipped."

"Where was he headed?"

"The labs in Keiyō."

* * *

The afternoon in Konoha Naruto and Ino had continued their training session with Jiraiya watching closely, now Naruto could move more freely and reacted accordingly to each step, punch and kick the fellow blonde launched his way, his speed was impressively accurate as well for someone who had just discovered it, he moved for openings whenever he saw one and at some point Ino struggled to keep up since she was getting the impression he was getting faster with each attack instead of tired and slow. Jiraiya from his perspective was proud of the boy's fast improvement but kept wondering why his chakra flow was so different from others, in all his years of experience he had never seen such a different structure in chakra before, not even Minato, his former student and Naruto's dad was so adept, Naruto on the other hand made it look like it was something natural for him.

"Natural..." Jiraiya said in a low tone of voice as he continued to watch the two young blondes spar "Naruto, come here for a second." he called.

Both teens stopped what they were doing and looked at the sage in confusion, then at each other with the same expression, Ino finally nodded and Naruto lowered his fists and went over to where the older man was.

"Something wrong?"

"Nothing wrong brat, just want to confirm something I've been thinking about, I need you to do something for me."

"Ok...?"

"Go ahead and put your hands like this." the sage places both his own hands together with the right hand on top of the left one, palms facing upward and the tips of each thumb touching, Naruto copied the hand pose.

"And now?"

"Stay as still as possible and try gathering chakra slowly."

Naruto was not sure where the sage was going with this but complied with his request, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath before remaining as still as he could, surprisingly he was not struggling to do this last part, something Jiraiya did no let go unnoticed. Naruto slowly but surely started calling forward chakra, even with his closed eyes he could clearly see and feel the flow of energy surrounding him, however this energy was not coming from him, it was coming to him in the form of a light green aura.

" _Impossible!_ " Jiraiya could not believe what he was seeing " _This kid can summon nature energy effortlessly..._ "

" _What the... what is that?!_ " Ino was as stunned as the Toad Sage was, unlike him however, she had no idea what type of exercise Naruto was doing or how he was pulling it.

Before long however, both their expressions changed as Naruto's face started to change shape, his mouth area was enlarged and warts started to pop up, his eyes also stretched abnormally.

" _Shit!_ " Jiraiya quickly summoned with his hands a large wood staff from thin air and hit Naruto in the head with it, immediately reverting the transformation effects he was suffering and making the energy dissipate and vanish.

"OOOW OW OW OW!" Naruto yelled covering the top of his head "HEY WHAT'S YOU PROBLEM OLD MAN?!" he glared daggers at the sage who was still processing what he had witnessed, Naruto apparently had not realized the look he had and continued to comically glare at him.

"Do you know what you just did?"

"STOP ASKING ME TRICK QUESTIONS! YOU'VE ALREADY HIT ME TWICE TODAY YOU KNOW!" Naruto rambled waving one of his arms furiously.

"Naruto, you can gather nature energy with ease, it means you're able to use Senjutsu, one of the strongest arts a shinobi can possess..." Jiraiya's tone of voice was serious which made Naruto stop his glare and give him a look of confusion instead.

"Senjutsu? I don't remember reading about that."

"Because it's a secret technique boy, only the strongest are eligible to use this power, even then, not all can fully master it, not even the Hokage."

"Huh? Are you saying I have some sort of hidden superpower?"

"No brat, I'm saying you have the potential to have one."

"Excuse me..." Ino approached the pair "I couldn't help but overhear what you said Jiraiya-sama, you mentioned Senjutsu?"

"You know what he's talking about Ino?"

"Sort of, Senjutsu is a state where your senses, your strength and speed are increased tenfold, from what I know only a few shinobi are capable of using it but it's been year since anyone has done such a thing..." she turned to Jiraiya "Is nature energy what he just gathered?"

"Indeed, you seem to be well informed about Senjutsu young lady."

"I've only read and heard about it from my father, never seen anyone using it." Again her attention went to the young blond "You are full of surprises Naruto!"

"Heh! Coming from you that means a lot!" He gave Ino a cheeky smile.

"I'd say let's call it a day for now, it's about time we all get some lunch don't you think?" Jiraiya asked.

"Ooooh! Are you buying old man?!" Naruto almost yelled again on excitement.

"Of course! I know a place you'll love!"

Ino smiled looking at Naruto's childlike behavior, regardless of how ridiculous it might seem to other people, he was much more of a free spirit than she was, he smiled and laughed more than what she was accustomed to, his energy seemed to never go away and she had to admit, it was beginning to get contagious for her, deep down she wanted to tell him the truth about everything, he deserved it, but the decision was not up to her in the end.

" _He's still the same Naruto_ _after all..._ " she thought.

* * *

Night came fast, Keiyō was an industrial area full of activity at all hours, basically a labyrinth of lights and metal that gave the impression of large pipe castles, a mix of beautiful and disturbing. This area also worked as a working ground for laboratories of several companies. No other vehicle moved in the area at that hour but a black van that only looked for one particular area.

"Are you sure you want to do this Sasuke?" Suigetsu asked while driving slowly and looking around.

"I'm sure, besides..." Sasuke covered his head with a black hooded mask, the last part of his outfit for a break in "I'll be in and out of there before anyone notices, catch you in a few minutes."

Sasuke opened the door of the van as it kept moving and jumped out, he quickly ran to a dark canal with a long tunnel ahead covered by a few plants, the entrance to the tunnel had an old and rusty gate that could be easily trespassed.

" _Can you hear me?_ " Suigetsu asked through an earpiece.

"Loud and clear."

" _Ok, so this tunnel should lead you to where the generators are, you remember the way_ _right_?"

"Yeah, I'll contact you when I'm inside."

Sasuke activated a small flashlight attached to his head and sprinted inside the long corridor of the tunnel, minutes passed as he kept looking in the dark for a small ventilation opening somewhere but eventually he found it, as expected it was shut tight by steel grating but Sasuke had anticipated this, using a blowtorch he had brought it took him only a few seconds to remove it. Once he set it aside he entered the ventilation duct that only had one way, directly into the generator room. Sasuke crawled with eased through the duct until he finally saw the end of it and some light coming from the other side, before he kicked it open he checked if any other person was there, after confirming he was alone he proceeded to kick the grating until it fell to a loud clank on the ground, the young Uchiha followed and landed inside the room.

"I'm in."

" _Ok now, the access card I gave you works for all upper levels of the place except for the labs, you need to find one of the employees there and take his or her card instead, if this Orochimaru guy is a scientist as you said, his lab should be there._ "

Sasuke turned off the flashlight as the room was well illuminated already, at least sixteen huge power generators, each the size of a container, were operating at the moment, not counting the reserves that were in a different room. This was not his first time visiting the building, as his father's successor he had to learn about the corporation, the installations and what they did, this was his first time entering found the door leading out to a large hall from what he assumed was the lower plant,

"Suigetsu, is it ready yet?" Sasuke took out a small electronic device from his pocket.

" _Almost, just give me a sec here._ "

"Hurry, I can't move from this area if the cameras are still on."

" _The emergency generators will start right after we set this thing off but y_ _ou'll have to wait 3 minutes before the security system restarts and you can use the card, the cameras will be back on shortly after that so by then you need to be out of sight, understand?_ "

"Just let me know when it's ready."

They were talking about an Electromagnetic Pulse, or EMP, one of the many toys the Uchiha had access to since they also had business with the military to some extent, Fugaku had bought it a long time ago but it was kept hidden in the basement for no apparent reason, now Sasuke had a reason to take it out. This version was miniaturized, the size of a smartphone and as light as one but only controllable via a computer, one Suigetsu had access to from the van. Sasuke put on a pair of night vision goggles before anything happened.

" _Activating EMP in 3... 2..._ 1..."

The EMP surged from the device Sasuke was holding and immediately the whole place went dark, only after a second the lights that came on were red signaling an emergency protocol was in place, Sasuke was already rushing through the hall looking for the emergency stairs. When he found them he went inside and started jumping using his chakra for impulse to skip several floors, he needed to find the wing where the laboratories were located and somehow access that area within those three minutes.

He reached the 3rd floor marked on the wall and opened the door carefully, a few people were heading his way as by protocol standards the elevators could not be used, he stood still behind the door and watched as several personnel and staff started to walk past him and down the stairs, nobody noticed his presence probably due to the situation they had at the moment. Sasuke patiently waited until the last person went past the door, a short man who had a white lab coat which was exactly what Sasuke needed and in a swift motion he took the individual from behind holding his mouth to avoid noise and back inside the hall past the stairs with the door closing behind them.

"I'm not gonna hurt you, I'm only looking for a person called Orochimaru, I'm gonna let you talk so don't try anything."

The terrified scientist nodded his head as to let Sasuke know he agreed, the raven haired Uchiha slowly removed his hand from the man's mouth to let him speak.

"H-he's not here today!"

"Do you know where is lab is?"

"I-it's one floor up from here, west wing! 420!"

"I'm gonna borrow this, thank you."

Sasuke took the man's access card hanging from his coat and hit his neck with a karate chop rendering him unconscious, he noticed a help desk was nearby with an empty chair and dragged the man over it to let him sleep peacefully.

" _Sasuke what happened?_ "

"I got the card, his lab is one floor up on the west side, I'm heading there now."

" _One minute and a half left for reboot._ "

Sasuke rushed again to the door and waited to make sure nobody was coming down the stairs, after a few seconds he jumped to the 4th floor and opened the door again to enter a similar hallway but with a connecting passage at the end meaning that was likely the west wing where the labs were located, he ran quickly to the other side past the several doors until he reached the final glass door with an electronic terminal, placing the card he had just borrowed a beeping sound came from the wall, however the door did not open.

"Damn, the security system is still rebooting, I can't open this door!"

" _Hold on, coming back in 5... 4... 3... 2... 1!_ "

The regular lights went back on and the red colors disappeared, Sasuke took off his goggles and noticed the terminal was now working, he tried the card again and this time the terminal lit green and the door opened, just across the long glass hallway more doors awaited him.

"420... 420..." he kept whispering to himself as he checked door by door.

" _The generators are back on, cameras are not online yet but I wouldn't take the risk to stay for too long Sasuke_ _._ "

"Found it."

Sasuke used the access card again and the door opened to a large room containing lab equipment everywhere, a second chamber separated by a thick glass and completely in the dark laid just opposite from where Sasuke stood, the only way to access it was through another decontamination room separated by two automated doors, he scanned for any trace or clue about Orochimaru's whereabouts even though he was not entirely sure of what he was looking for.

"Ah... the son of Fugaku Uchiha..."

The deep voice startled the raven haired boy, he was alone in the lab, it came from the other side of the glass where everything was pitch black.

"Who's there?"

" _Sasuke what's going on?_ "

The chamber from where the voice produced suddenly was illuminated, and on one of the corners a figure covered in a long dark hood rested against the wall.

"Who... are you?"

The figure chucked, he raised his right hand to the front as if scanning for something.

"Ah, yes, you have it in you, good good..."

"I said... who are you?" Sasuke's voice was more confident as he slowly approached the large glass separating the two.

"I'm what your father uses when he wages his silly war against someone, just a weapon, an afterthought if you may."

"War? What war?"

"I see... you have no idea what's happening do you?"

"Enough with the riddles! Who are you?!" Sasuke approached the front of the chamber, only feet away from the other individual.

All of a sudden the lights inside the chamber started to flicker, Sasuke raised his head and looked around him confused as to what was causing this, they continued flickering until eventually all went out, a second later they went back on and the figure stood in front of Sasuke behind the glass, no longer hooded, a pale white man with three scars on his head that opened revealing red eyes inside, his right eye held open by stitches also revealing a red eye but bloodshot and a darkened sclera.

" _Sasuke, talk to me, what's going on?_ "

"Let me show you!"

Sasuke froze and immediately felt pain between his own eyes, his vision started to blur and he screamed loudly, the headache was unbearable and he fell on his knees grabbing his head as the pain continued, his pupils suffered a sudden change as they turned red as well, then his world went completely dark.

" _Sasuke respond!...Sasuke!_ "

No response.

* * *

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**

 **Hello again! Yes, a new chapter finished already and out of the oven faster than expected! I'm a bit surprised myself I was able to finish this before a whole month passed and I'm even able to write while I'm at work! Weird right? Thanks for the support this story is getting, truly appreciated, enjoy!**


	9. Back to Square One

" _Let me show you!_ "

The voice of the pale man echoed through his head stronger every time, his eyes glowing a bright red color and staring at his very soul, red clouds surrounded him as the pale man kept walking closer and closer every step of the way. Sasuke was paralyzed, he was not the type of person to run from anything, his father had at least taught him to face his fears, even if it was indirectly it was a trait he picked up from the Uchiha leader, but he did not have a choice at the moment, he was being forced to face whoever this man was with no means of escape.

" _Let me show you!_ " he kept saying.

" _Show me what?!_ " Sasuke asked fiercely.

" _Your heritage..."_ the man smirked.

Sasuke started to recover his senses, the lights of the room where he found himself were familiar. his vision was still blurry and sensitive so he moved weakly one of his arms in front of his face to block the blindness momentarily, seconds later his eyes adjusted and realized he was back in his bedroom, under the sheets and accompanied by Suigetsu, who smiled when he noticed he was recovering, and a woman who worked closely with his father, she had long purple hair and a cropped single bang hanging over her forehead.

"Sasuke! You're awake! You had me worried there!"

Sasuke acknowledged his friend's worried remark and tried to sit up slowly, his head still hurt.

"What happened? How long I've been asleep?"

"Almost 9 hours, not counting the time it took us to bring you here..." said the woman.

"What are you doing here Naori?" he was now talking to the woman.

"Making sure your dad doesn't kill you when he finds out what you did, Suigetsu here told me everything."

Sasuke's expression changed and he looked over to his friend for confirmation, Suigetsu simply nodded.

"When you stopped responding I had to go in and look for you even though the building was being evacuated, I found you lying unconscious on a lab, I called her since I couldn't take you to a hospital, that would've made the news and given your father a good reason to get rid of me."

"Why her? she's my father's right hand."

"Because I'm not going to rat on you Sasuke-kun."

"Really?" Sasuke's eyes narrowed with distrust, his tone of voice with a bit of sarcasm.

"While it is true what you said, my job is also to serve you since you're his son, there is no meaningful reason to create a breach between the two of you, and..." She walked over to his bed, Sasuke's fists clenched "I'm the only person who can cover up the mess you both did over in Keiyō."

"And why exactly would you do that? You and I have never seen eye to eye Naori."

"Because now you have the Sharingan Sasuke-kun, that changes everything."

Both Sasuke and Suigetsu looked at each other in confusion.

"The Sharingan? How?"

"When I found you last night, I assumed you had an encounter with Shin, one of our secret projects, you passed out because he forced your Sharingan to be awakened."

"The Sharingan can only be awakened by those who train themselves in the arts of a shinobi for years like father did, am I supposed to believe your words all of a sudden?"

Naori politely smiled "You have no reason to trust me, but I think you might want to see it yourself won't you?" She stood from the bed and walked over to the door as if she was about to leave.

"Where ar-" Sasuke was not able to finish his sentence when he saw Naori throwing a kunai aimed for his head, involuntarily his body moved on it's own and he could see almost in slow motion how the trajectory of the weapon was heading his way, he moved his head away from the trajectory just as the kunai impaled itself against the bed's headboard.

"YO! What the hell lady!" Suigetsu immediately went on the defensive and pulled out his gun aiming for Naori's head, he never fired.

"I do believe that should suffice? Sasuke-kun?" Naori asked mischievously looking only at the son of her boss, Suigetsu looked confused for a moment, he checked over to Sasuke and he could not believe what he was seeing, he had not only dodged the kunai without sustaining a scratch, his eyes that never stopped looking at Naori had turned crimson red.

"S-Sasuke! Your eyes...?"

"I... know, I feel them..."

Naori, pleased with the demonstration and believing for the time being it would suffice lowered the arm she used to throw the kunai and relax, Suigetsu remained alert.

"You're an Uchiha, it was only a matter of time before the Sharingan manifested itself, that makes you now truly the new heir to the clan's legacy."

"How did this... how was that thing able to do this?..." Sasuke looked at one of his hands and noticed the sluggish movement coming from the skin, as if time itself was stopping just so he could notice the difference.

"Shin was originally created as a soldier with one purpose, to destroy the clan's enemies, however your father deemed him as a failed experiment and he's been under Orochimaru's care ever since."

"You... know Orochimaru?!"

"Of course, he's been working for us for a long time and is one of the most brilliant scientists in the world."

"Suigetsu..." Sasuke looked over to his friend and nodded as a sign to lower his weapon, he obeyed despite looking for a way to protest "Why os my father paying him so much money?"

"Ah, so you found the notebook..." She casually walked over to the bed again but remained on her two feet, Suigetsu looked nervous "He's on a secret mission for us, looking for... something we need."

"What exactly? I want to know everything."

"You sure you want to ride this train Sasuke-kun?"

"I am."

Naori remained silent for a moment the looked at Suigetsu.

"What about him?"

"I trust Suigetsu more than anyone else, whatever you tell me, he can hear it too."

"Oi Sasuke! Don't you think that's up to me to decide?"

"You already got your hands dirty young man, you're free to leave but I won't guarantee you'll keep your job once Fugaku returns." Naori said.

"Heh... my job, right..." Suigetsu was sweating just by thinking what could actually happen to him if he did not stay in that room, he could probably run but he would be a hunted person probably for the rest of his life, that was how relentless his boss, Fugaku Uchiha was "I guess I don't have a choice, again..."

"Come with me then, both of you."

"Hey hold on! Sasuke is still recovering!"

"Is he?" She turned to Sasuke who for a moment forgot he was no longer feeling any painful symptoms, he stood from his bed and put on his shoes, Naori only looked at Suigetsu and smiled innocently, he huffed and crossed his arms "Sasuke-kun, please turn off your Sharingan, we don't want the other employees to get scared."

He realized she was right, his Sharingan was still active and after pouring some chakra he blinked only once to make it go away.

"You're learning fast, good." She opened the door and motioned the boys to follow her. "Come with me, this house has ears and eyes everywhere."

* * *

Naruto's progress over the past weeks was to say the least, fast, faster than anything expected, as it was previously established his chakra control was monitored by Ino while Jiraiya honed his combat skills, the Hokage was indeed impressed with his learning curve and so was everyone else close to him. He was curious about Senjutsu but Jiraiya convinced him it was not wise to learn such a powerful and dangerous art yet as the nature energy required for it could kill him if he did not master it fully.

The sunset that evening over Konoha was starting to set, a beautiful orange light adorned the sky and the buildings of the village. Both Naruto and Jiraiya had said goodbye to each other, their training session had ended and they were heading their own way, Naruto wanted to stop and grab something to eat on his way back home, all that exercise made his stomach growl.

"How did it go today?"

"Oh, hey Ino, it went well as usual, what are you doing around here?"

"Just came to check on you, are you hungry?"

"Yeah, I..." a loud growl coming from his stomach interrupted him, he blushed and scratched the back of his head embarrassed "I was gonna eat something before heading home..."

"No need, look." Ino was carrying a wooden container filled with hot and fresh dumplings "I just bought them a minute ago, care to join me? Thought you'd be starving after training."

Like a puppy, Naruto's eyes lit up and he happily accepted the invitation, of course he was hungry and more than willing to eat. Both went to a high spot of the village to sit and watch the sunset while they enjoyed their meal, the place was a tall peak near the east side of Konoha from where they had a great view of the houses and buildings, regardless the scenery above them was far more breathtaking.

"Did you like them?"

"Heh! is it that obvious?" Naruto asked while licking his fingers clean for the fifth time already, to say he like the dumplings was an understatement "So what's up?"

"Well... I talked to Hokage-sama today, he asked me about your progress."

"What did you tell him?"

Ino turned her face to him and smiled "That you're a great Shinobi in the making." Then she went back to watch the horizon "There's... something else though."

"What is it?" he raised an eyebrow.

"Remember the message I showed you when I brought you here?" Naruto nodded "The rest of it is sealed within my head and I'm not able to open it, as a safety measure."

"Safety measure?"

"In case I ever got captured and interrogated, the message would be useless if someone tried to mess with my head."

"Isn't that unlikely? I mean, you're pretty strong."

"While I appreciate your praise, there are individuals out there far stronger than me and if something ever happened..." Her face changed to a somehow sad look.

"Then that's also part of the reason I'm here right? To protect you, to protect everyone here."

For a moment Ino felt as if Naruto's words had lifted a weight that had slowly accumulated, death was part of a shinobi's path that could present itself constantly, she was not thinking about her own death though but instead all the lives she silenced forever, she was an assassin after all, it was her job so she accepted when death came for her, she would not fight it, she would embrace it, maybe then that ominous feeling would go away.

"You're a fast learner, I'll admit that." She chuckled.

"Hey, let's not think about that now, I'd like to think I'll be someday at your level..."

"Heh! Yeah right!"

She laughed a bit but noticed Naruto was dead serious about his words, he really did admire her a lot at this point and was starting to wonder if she should be worried.

"Um, Naruto..."

"Look, you and Jiraiya-sensei have taught me so much since I came here and I have nothing but gratitude for both of you."

"Oh..." She felt at ease, Jiraiya was also someone he looked up to and not just her, she thought to herself how stupid it was to think ahead how he felt and make assumptions that had nothing to do with his actual feelings "It's fine, just stay focused okay?"

"I will!" He saluted her as a military would, this made her chuckle again "So you were telling me about the message.."

"Right..." She focused her gaze on the horizon "So when we first received it it was a scroll, we thought it was a common written message but instead we got a special seal, a memory seal, Hokage-sama called me and my dad, then we noticed the rest of the message could only be opened by chakra..."

"... My chakra I suppose." he also looked over the horizon.

"Only enough to break the seal and see the rest of the message."

"I never asked... How did the scroll arrive?"

"Hokage-sama said it appeared on his desk one morning, no sign of a messenger, from there you already know the rest..."

"Ino, is there something else I should know?"

She did not understand "I'm sorry, what do you mean?"

"I just want to make sure you guys are not holding from me any information I should be aware of. "

"Naruto, the moment you came here you trusted us, what you know so far is what we know also, but you gotta understand something..." she shifted her position to face him "If you go out there to look for your parents and you're unprepared, you'll be dead before you can find them and then all of this was for nothing."

"I get that, and I'm thankful for what you guys are doing for me, but you've seen what I can do, I don't want to be treated like a defenseless kid the entire time I'm here, I can hold my own you know."

She did not know how to reply, he was technically right, with only a few days of training with her and a Sage, he was already a fighting machine, even if he had not gone on an official mission yet.

"Do you have the scroll?" he asked.

"Well, no, Hokage-sama has it but I have the entire message in my head, just uncoded."

"So how do we do this then?"

"Huh?"

"You say you need my chakra to see the whole message right? Here."

Naruto grabbed both her hands with a firm grip, this action made Ino blush involuntarily, she mentally cursed herself for doing so.

"W-what are you doing?"

"What does it look like? I'm giving you my chakra, now what happens?"

"I..."

"Something wrong?"

Ino was not sure of what to do, if the rest of the message had sensitive information for Naruto to know then maybe she should wait until the Hokage was present, she tried her best to remind herself he had the right to know since they were his parents after all but at the same as a shinobi of Konoha her duty was to avoid exposure either by her or her peers, then again he had agreed to this life and she knew Naruto was trustworthy at this point, he could most likely handle whatever content was in there. Ino sighed wondering if she was doing the right thing.

"Okay, close your eyes and take a deep breath."

Naruto smiled and did as he was told, she soon followed and both entered into a trance, then they found themselves standing in the garden that was Ino's mind, still holding their arms

"Ready?" she asked, Naruto nodded.

"Show me."

Ino used a seal with her free hand while still holding Naruto's with the other one and poured chakra into it, Naruto copied the action and to their surprise it worked, a huge sealing symbol glowed under their feet and faded after, then their surroundings started to turn into what seemed like a jungle, both Minato and Kushina appeared again in front of them, this time they were running from someone _,_ the sound of rifles and barking dogs could be heard behind them.

" ** _How did they find us?!_** **_There's so many of them!_** "

" ** _They must have forced the locals to talk, just keep moving!_** "

"What the hell...?" Naruto said in a low tone of voice, Ino was as confused as he was.

" ** _Over there!"_**

They spotted a cliff side and both dashed to it without second thought, the cliff was not high enough but it did provide cover for the time being, they jumped from the edge and landed safely at the bottom, Minato noticed the cliff's walls formed a sort of dome to avoid the line of sight from above, he took his wife against it and waited while holding her back.

" ** _Minato, the Kyuubi... it's speaking to me._** "

"The Kyuubi?!" Naruto said out loud.

"They found it?!" Ino also asked.

" ** _Shh..._** "

Soon enough other voices could be heard, they were frantically looking for them, the dogs continued to bark in the distance, Minato cursed his luck for not erasing their scent sooner, if these hounds found them they would have to run again, engaging them would be suicide, Naruto could only watch his father's image with worry, Ino noticed his look and tightened the grip on his hand.

"Don't worry, this is before what we saw, I'm sure they escaped."

"You think Uchiha Corp is involved in this?"

"Hard to tell for sure but I wouldn't be surprised."

Minutes passed, they continued to watch the couple hide from the soldiers until their noise was faint, Minato continued to listen to make sure they were alone.

" ** _Let's move, it won't be long before they pick up our scent._** "

" ** _That_** ** _Fugaku! He_** ** _won't rest until he gets us, we need to warn Naruto and the others!_** "

" ** _Honey, we don't even know if Fugaku sent them._** "

" ** _It was him_** ** _Minato! That's what the Kyuubi was telling me, the chakra signature of that guy with the mask, he_** **_had a Sharingan!_** **_Even my Kongō Fūsa had no effect_** ** _!_** "

" ** _Damn it! If only I had my kunai here!_**

"Do you recognize that place?" Ino asked.

"No, looks like an island to me though."

"We need more clues to know where they are, I hope there's something."

The pair watched as the couple left their hiding spot carefully before looking for heading their way.

" ** _Looks clear, let's go."_**

Minato took his wife's hand and turned to face a pair of armed mercenaries who had just arrived there, through their masked helmets they saw them and both parties remained frozen for a second, then one of the men reacted and went for his radio to alert his team, before that could happen Minato and Kushina dashed and each with a high knee to the temple knocked the men back a few meters also making their assault rifles drop from their hands by a few meters, before they could even get up Minato was already behind one of then wrapping his arms into a choke hold around his head, Kushina went with a swift and firm kick to the other man's head breaking the front glass of the helmet and knocking him out instantly while the other man struggled for a few seconds before he stopped and eventually was released from Minato's hold, falling unconscious to the ground. Kushina looked over to her husband with concern, both noticed the emblem they had on the left side of their uniform.

" ** _Uchiha Corp..._** ** _I told you it was him, we need to leave this island Minato_** ** _..._** "

"... ** _We need to send a message to Naruto first, t_** ** _hey'll go after him as leverage, Konoha can protect him_** ** _._** "

" ** _But how? We're isolated right now and_** ** _we have no time_** ** _!_** "

" ** _Leave that to me._** "

The couple fled the scene as quickly as they could, one of the fallen mercenary's radio started to receive messages with static from his comrades and they knew the place would soon be filled with more armed men if there was no response.

Naruto and Ino continued silently watching for a few more minutes their escape, eventually they reached the edge of the island and found a small cavern nearby to take shelter, they knew they only had a few minutes before they had to run again.

" ** _I'm sending them a memory seal, Inoichi or her daughter will be able to open it once Naruto is with them._** " Minato said as he prepared a hand seal, Kushina stood next to her husband and placed both her hands in front of him, he grabbed them once the seal was prepared.

" ** _Are you ready?_** "

Kushina nodded, both remained close to one another and closed their eyes as they began speaking.

" ** _Naruto, I know this isn't the best way for you to see us and you probably have a lot of questions but we don't have much time, we're being pursued, all of us are and right now we need you to trust what we tell you and follow our words carefully…_** "

" ** _My sweet boy, my little Naruto, please listen... the world is about to change, everything you know will change, the time I have feared the most has come, the time for you to become a full fledged Shinobi..._** "

" ** _Everything your mother and I taught you about chakra was for a reason Naruto, your heritage as a Shinobi will make you a target for people with hidden agendas, people your mother and I have been fighting our whole lives..._** "

" ** _You can trust Ino, she's there to keep you safe, please listen to her and do as she says..._** "

" ** _She will take you to meet the Hokage, and if everything goes accordingly, we will meet you there soon, for now stay with her and keep yourself out of trouble son..._** "

" ** _Naruto, please always remember that we love you no matter what, you're our son and you're our most important person in the world, we didn't mean to leave_** **_you the way we did but we're doing this to keep you out of harm's way._** "

" ** _Your mother and I found a Kyuubi, a creature of legend, its chakra is incredibly powerful and vast so we had to split it and seal it between us, that basically means we're carrying a time bomb inside us._** " Minato chucked, Kushina elbowed him in the gut.

" ** _It's more of a nuisance really, but we can't control it right now so we're exposing anyone close to us to a potential disaster, this is why we had to remain away from you and society overall, we're working on it though..._** "

" ** _It took us months but we're now able to talk with it and even use some of its power from time to time, still, the Uchiha Corporation is after it and wants to build a weapon of some sort with it, we don't know the full details yet but if they get their hands on either one of us, the world will suffer terribly, we cannot permit that to happen._** "

" ** _By the time you get this message we'll be no longer on this island so please don't come looking for us, as much as it bothers us to do this, we need to keep contact almost null from now on, at least until we figure out what to do with the Kyuubi or how to get to Konoha undetected, Uchiha Corp has eyes everywhere._** "

" ** _Please be patient, we're sorry about this but we hope you understand why it needs to be this way, behave in our absence and don't give any trouble to Hokage-sama or anyone in the village, also I don't need to remind you this information is sensitive so don't speak about it with anyone that is not from Konoha, the rest of the world is not ready to understand what's going on."_**

" ** _We love you..._** "

" ** _We love you son..._** "

The message ended and their images dissipated into thin air, Ino's memory regained its original form into that of a beautiful garden, both teens stood there in silence for a few seconds. Ino checked Naruto's expression and to her surprise he was almost apathetic to what he just saw, he only kept a very serious look while still staring at an empty space.

"Now I get it..." he said.

"Yeah, I guess now it makes sense why they disappeared like they did, but hey, at least we know why..."

"Yes but that's not what I meant."

"You mean the Kyuubi then?

"No, it's what dad said before when they were being chased..." Naruto let go of Ino's hand "He was talking about a kunai right? I'm sure he meant his Hiraishin kunai, now I remember he used to carry one with him all the time, could it still...?"

"Still what? what is it?"

"He always had a spare one hidden in the apartment."

"Naruto, don't tell me..." her eyes widened when she realized where he was going.

"Yeah..." He looked at her sternly "I need to speak with the old man Hokage, I must go back to Tokyo."

-0-

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto**

 **Hello there, another quick chapter here for y'all, enjoy and don't forget to leave a review!**


	10. Dangerous Waters

"You're joking right?"

Of course the idea of going back to Tokyo was insane for Ino, she had just managed to get him out of there in one piece and now he wanted to return for his father's weapon not even considering the amount of danger he would be in if Fugaku Uchiha discovered his location, she had enough experience at this point to know the corporation had too many eyes in the city and would rat out Naruto without second thought the moment he stepped in again.

"Why would I? The only way I'm gonna be able to find mom and dad is if I get my hands on that kunai."

"How exactly? You don't know the Hiraishin!"

"No but once we have it it won't matter, if I pour my chakra into it I'm sure dad will notice and come to us right away, It's the fastest and safest way to bring them to Konoha."

"Naruto, you're not thinking about this clearly, let's say we get the kunai, what if your dad can't sense you?"

"Look, we won't know until we try and besides, I think it would be worse if Uchiha Corp gets it before we do."

"Okay you have a point there, but they don't even know where it is, it's safe for now..."

"That's a risk I'm not gonna take, dad's jutsu cannot fall into their hands and that kunai is unprotected right now, sooner or later they will find it if we don't do something..."

"You going back there is also a risk, don't you see?!"

"Then you lied."

Ino's mouth stopped before anything else was said. "Huh?"

"About me making progress, you lied about that."

"Wha-? No! That's not a lie!"

"It is, you don't believe I can handle myself out there."

"Naruto I didn't lie! You've improved a lot!"

"I don't believe you, you and the old man Hokage treat me like a child, the only who believes in me is Jiraiya-sensei." Naruto crossed his arms behind his head and started walking away, Ino followed.

"You're not listening to me! Just because I don't want you to get hurt doesn't mean I see you as a child! I know you're more than capable of handling your own now but you don't know Fugaku Uchiha like we do."

"So that's the plan huh? Konoha remains in the shadows while this guy keeps pushing... I thought being a Shinobi meant more than hiding you know."

Ino knew Naruto was right, being a Shinobi definitely meant more than just hiding but she could not disobey the village's doctrine or else she could doom their existence, yet Naruto's words echoed within her strongly, he was far more stubborn than she was and maybe this was a good thing. She touched his arm as a sign to make his stop his pace.

"Look, I need to hear a plan first..."

Naruto's smile came back "So you'll come with me?!"

"Do I have a choice? Someone needs to watch your back." Ino said with a teasing tone that made Naruto chuckle "But we can't go back without a plan, we're taking a high risk..."

"Good! We get to the rooftop and use the stairs to get into the apartment, find the kunai and go back up to leave, simple!"

"And how did you plan on leaving?"

"I was hoping like last time and have Chōji and the others pick us up."

"Hey wait a minute! You didn't say anything about involving my team in this!"

"You got them involved in getting me out of Tokyo right? And besides, I'm also part of the team now so I say they come, unless you want to do another bike stunt like last time...?"

"Well... not really, no."

"Look it'll be quick, we go in, grab the kunai, get to rooftop again and fly out, what can go wrong?"

"I don't know Naruto..."

"Oh come on! It's foolproof!"

"... Look, this is a bit dangerous so we'll talk with Asuma-sensei first, deal?"

"Deal!" Naruto gave her the cheeky smile.

"That reminds me!" Ino extended her hand to his face and touched his cheek making him blush.

"Uuuh... What are you doing?"

"Shindenshin... I'm linking out minds together so we can communicate telepathically as well, you know, in case we are not around each other..."

"You can do that?! But wait... wouldn't that be invading each other's privacy a bit?"

She removed her hand from his cheek "This is only for us to listen to our voices inside each other, not to actually see what we're thinking, you're free to block me if I get too annoying by using a hand seal." She chuckled as she showed him the one hand seal.

"Heh, kinda like a smartphone?"

" _Y_ _ou could say that._ "

"Whoa... I can hear you!"

She smiled at his surprised expression. " _Try it._ "

" _... Hey! Naruto to Ino here, do you copy?_ "

She giggled like a little girl "Yeah, you're good, let's go."

"Where to?"

"To get the team ready."

* * *

Night arrived soon and Naruto waited impatiently at home for the rest of the team, he continued pacing through the living room endlessly and started to worry due to the hour, he had spent the entire afternoon preparing his own scrolls and gear just in case something happened, not that it was supposed to happen but just to be ready in case something went wrong. No, he needed to focus and stay in a positive mentality at all times, this was technically his first mission and asking him to keep a calm mind might have been too much at the moment, a simple mission perhaps but it still made him uneasy, that and the fact that Ino was not responding his mental calls. He thought maybe the last twenty three times he tried in the past hour he was doing it wrong, maybe the link between them had failed or disconnected at some point.

" _Dammit... Ino where are you?_ "

Or perhaps she simply had opted to block him for now, maybe she was doing what she said she would do and he was a distraction too big to deal with, was that it? was he being too obnoxious? No, that was not it, he was certain she was still there, he could feel her, she was only ignoring him. Great, now a wave of new thoughts came rushing to his brain and they were not pleasant. Luckily for him at that moment the door of the house opened and both Shikamaru and Chōji entered to find him frantically walking from one end to the other.

"Hey, something wrong?"

"Something wrong?! Ino didn't talk with you guys already?!" Naruto looked over to his friends almost in disbelief.

"Oh, that... I don't think we're gonna be able to help you there, we kinda planned the evening already with a couple of girls..." Shikamaru replied scratching the back of his head innocently, the look on Naruto's face was to say the least, hilarious.

"WHAAAAAT?! THERE ARE THINGS AT STAKE HERE AND YOU'RE TELLING ME GETTING LAID IS MORE IMPORTANT?! I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU!"

Chōji could not contain his laughter any longer, Shikamaru soon followed, Naruto's rant was too much for both of them.

"WHAT THE HELL IS SO FUNNY?!" Naruto kept ranting comically.

" _You are dummy! Did you seriously believe them?!_ "

Naruto stopped his frantic and quite entertaining ramble as soon as he heard Ino's voice inside his head, right away she entered the house trying to contain her laughter like her partners but failing miserably at it, Naruto finally grasped the joke to which of course, he did not find any amusement.

"Really guys...? Not funny..."

"Oh c'mon Naruto, it was! Cheer up a bit!" Chōji said calming down slowly from his laughter.

"Yeah, you should've seen yourself just a minute ago!" Ino said wiping a tearful eye.

"Tch!" Naruto only looked away annoyed at his teammate's childish behavior.

"Lighten up a little will ya? We only want to take off some of the weight off your shoulders, everyone's first mission is stressful sometimes..."

"Well I certainly didn't get any stress off..." Naruto muttered almost to himself still looking away, Ino finally calmed down and approached him but continued avoiding her eyes.

"Hey Naruto, it was just a silly joke, don't take it so hard, we're your friends and we're here for you remember?"

His gaze remained elsewhere, his tone of voice still low " _Why didn't you answer me when I called for you?_ "

" _Because while you kept insisting I was_ _gathering everyone and convincing them to join us, there was no need for you to call for me 23 times like a desperate boyfriend or something."_ She tilted her head slightly and raised an eyebrow keeping a smile always.

A slight blush crept to his face but he tried his best to shrug it off as he continued " _I thought the idea behind this mind link was to keep in touch with each other while we were away, not to make jokes..._ "

" _... You're right, I'm sorry, I won't do that again._ "

Naruto's gaze slowly switched to Ino's ocean blue eyes, her expression had changed almost into that of a pup looking for a hug, God it was hard not to believe her when she was being so genuine, so beautiful, so... No! He had no business thinking that way about her, again the redness in his face rushed, great timing and of course Ino being Ino, she noticed.

"You okay Naruto?'

"Y-yeah! Yeah! Hahaha! Let's just go okay?!" His voice went into nervous mode and started walking to the door. "W-where is Asuma-sensei by the way?"

"He's at the main gate waiting for us, he's taking us to a 'field trip' around mount Tanzawa so play along." Shikamaru responded as Naruto went past him.

"Alright! What are we waiting for then?! Let's go team!"

Naruto kept laughing nervously until he went outside, once he left the house an odd silence filled the air, both the Nara and Akimichi boys looked over to their teammate quizzically hoping she knew what that was all about.

* * *

"Look lady, for the 10th time, I don't know where he is!"

The room where Chen was being kept was a small space surrounded by four walls and a mirror that he obviously knew was a window from where others were watching the interaction, he sat on a small and uncomfortable iron chair, there was also a large table in the middle, a dim light bulb above his head was pretty much all the light he had there since from the shadowy corner Anko and Iruka stood watching the small man, Anko decided to step into the light and face him.

"You expect me to believe that load of crap from a lowlife that runs an illegal fight club?"

"I already told you what I know! It's been over a month since he last went to work!"

"And you don't know where he could be now? What places he frequents the most? In your line of business I'm sure you must have some sort of insurance when it comes to hiring fighters or am I overthinking things here...?" Her tone at the end being clearly sarcastic.

"No! not at all, you're right, just... Naruto never did anything out of the ordinary! He went from work to his home and that was it! The boy was very normal!"

"There's nothing normal about that boy, you should now that by now..."

"What... ? Listen, I don't know what you have against Naruto but that kid has done nothing wrong!"

"You sure about that?..."

Anko looked over to Iruka and nodded letting him know he could come over, he took the folder from under his arm and after opening it threw a couple of large pictures in front of Chen who looked confused over the material, he recognized the blonde girl as well as Naruto riding a bike together at high speed apparently running from someone.

"So what? He's not driving here, this isn't a crime-"

"Keep looking." Iruka interrupted.

Chen fumed over his tone but continued looking regardless and this time his expression changed to one of shock, there were several dead bodies as well as the picture of the motorcycle they used in that same location, their dining moment inside the restaurant and finally the shots of the same now dead men entering the place before their demise.

"He's a suspect for the murder of those men, he fled the scene with his new girlfriend, it is out job to bring him here for questioning."

"Naruto wouldn't do this..." Chen threw the pictures back to the two detectives in disgust "He's a tough boy but not a murderer!"

"Then he can tell us that himself once we find him, where is he? Where did that girl take him?"

Chen remained silent for a moment looking over the empty space of the table, he truly did not know what had happened to Naruto since then but he felt uneasy about telling them more than what they already knew, during the last few weeks Anko and Iruka had visited his office questioning him about the young boy and he initially refused to share any knowledge about him, to the point of denying he knew who he was but the agents were smarter and with enough evidence against him and the threat of other business partners witnessing the police visiting him almost everyday he agreed to cooperate with them. In reality he had already shared everything he knew about Naruto save for how much he was being paid per fight, that information was not relevant anyway.

"C'mon Chen-san, give us something to work with, the sooner we can find the boy, the better for all of us."

Chen took a deep breath "I already shared with you all I know, his whereabouts are not of my knowledge." Anko was about to protest but then Chen continued before she could "But the girl he ran off with... she's an assassin."

Both inspectors looked at the small man curiously.

"Who is she?"

Chen stood from his chair and walked over to the glass mirror, he knew very well the entire conversation was being listened to, revealing more information than he already had would put him in serious risk of becoming a wanted man, he sighed.

"Look, I've been here long enough, unless I'm actually and legally detained, I got business to attend to..."

He was right, Chen was only there for questioning but was not under formal arrest so there was no way to keep him against his will for much longer, Anko gritted her teeth in anger due to the short man's lack of collaboration but decided to let the matter rest for now, there was no point in keeping him there further.

"Get him out of here Iruka."

"But senpai!-" he was startled at how easily she gave up.

"You heard me!"

"Inspector Anko, if I may have a word with you outside..."

Anko ignored the man's request and simply left the room in anger, Iruka knew it was a bad idea to follow her at the moment unless he wanted to end pulverized by her fists, he mentally thanked the heavens he was not as stubborn to get such a death wish.

The female inspector literally stomped her way out of the station all the way to the front entrance, she wanted to scream but decided against it as the attention from nearby spectators could bring her trouble, having all eyes on her for such a childish behavior was the last thing she needed at the moment, instead she opted to smoke of of her cigars, she had told herself someday she would quit but the stress she had developed during the years in her job made it impossible, the feeling of being powerless in a situation she should have controlled was awful. She used her lighter and inhaled deeply then letting the smoke leave her lungs slowly while keeping her eyes on the streets as people walked to whatever destination they had.

" _Damn it!_ "

"Excuse me..."

Anko turned her head to see Chen just beside her making her just more annoyed than she already was.

"Why are you still here?"

"I asked if I could speak with you, since you simply stormed out I took that as a yes..."

"For what? You said you did not have anything else to say in there." Anko looked away as she took another drag of her cigar.

"Because I didn't want to say this in front of your superiors, it's not wise, besides..." he went past her with his back turned "To know about shinobi business means you are one yourself, am I wrong?"

Anko froze.

"As I thought... look lady, you're getting yourself into dangerous waters here and i'm risking myself as well, but Naruto is a good lad, whatever you think you know about this case is irrelevant now..." he walked past her and continued to speak "The girl he took off with is Ino Yamanaka, a well known assassin nicknamed the Slayer, she has indirectly killed a few rivals along the way so I never thought of her as a threat."

"You knew who she was and let him go with her anyway?! Why?!" Anko almost yelled.

"Because she visited me earlier that day and told me what she intended to do and believe me, I want to keep my head intact..."

"What did she want with him?..."

"..."

"I thought you wanted to talk to me..."

"She intended to take him to Konoha and turn him into a shinobi as well."

"Konoha...?" Anko's mind struggled with the information.

"If you're truly a shinobi then surely you must've heard of that place before, the village where shinobi live, hidden somewhere in Japan, that's probably where Naruto is right now."

"And I suppose you don't know how to get there, right?"

"Me?" He chuckled "I'm just a simple businessman lady, your best bet is if somehow he returned to the city, then you can ask him yourself, assuming you're not going to arrest him of course... Now if you'll excuse me, I have other things to do."

Chen casually walked away until he disappeared among the crowd, Anko simply stood there processing the information she was given, if this man knew about her shinobi ties it meant it was not a wise decision to restrain his liberty further than they already had, she had dealt in the past with manipulative behavior but this man was also a shinobi like her, if they were good at something was in lying and deceiving, she had to thread carefully and think her next step before executing it, yet a part of his last sentence resonated in her mind.

" _Your best bet is if somehow he returned to the city..._ "

"Senpai!" Iruka came running out of the station looking worried.

"Get the car keys Iruka."

"Huh? Where are we going?"

"To watch over that apartment..." and then she walked away, leaving the younger detective confused.

* * *

The night sky was very clear, yet the helicopter carrying the team flew silently in the air, as good shinobi they were a silencing barrier was placed around the machine to avoid attracting unwanted attention, for good measure an invisibility barrier was also placed so their mission could also be carried out without prying eyes. The trip itself was not that long but the crew was not very chatty either, Shikamaru focused on counting the bullets for his rifle while also going over the plan silently with Asuma, Chōji as the pilot, could only look to the front for the area where they would eventually leave the blonde duo, Ino herself silently rested against the edge of the open door of the helicopter watching the night sky and wondering who knew what, Naruto just looked at her trying to read her.

"Oi Ino, are you ok?"

She was a bit startled "Huh? Yeah I'm fine, why?"

"You seem a bit off, is all..."

"Nah nah, I'm good!" She said almost laughing "It's just... I can't stop feeling uneasy about tonight."

"Care to share?" Shikamaru suddenly asked joining the conversation.

"Ever since we left the village, I feel uneasy about something..."

"Hey, that's why we talked about the plan already. Why are you thinking about that all of a sudden?" Shikamaru started shining his rifle.

"I don't know... it just came as a thought, that's all."

"If something goes wrong, are we prepared for it though?" Naruto asked, the attention of everyone shifted to him.

"Don''t joke about that Naruto." Asuma said.

"I'm not joking, just think, if something goes wrong for some reason, not that it should but if it did, are we ready to respond?"

"We train our whole lives for any type of situation, that's why we have sharper senses than your average guy, besides, you're my team and I trust in your abilities as you should."

"Asuma-sensei, have you ever lost someone in a mission?"

Asuma raised an eyebrow, the rest of the team looked at each other in confusion "Not once, why?"

"That's the thing, I don't mean to come as a pessimist or anything you know, just wondering how a person can adapt to something like losing a teammate during a mission, say Shikamaru, Ino or myself, if something happened to us and you've never been in that situation before, how can you be sure you'll respond correctly?"

"Hey hey Naruto, what's with the gloomy conversation?" Ino asked smiling but at the same time curiously wondering what this conversation meant "It's not like you to bring that topic."

"Just trying to relate to your earlier thoughts." He responded also smiling confidently.

"You guys done playing prophets of doom? If we focus and do what we're supposed to do, nothing will go wrong, stop being so troublesome you two, jeez..." Shikamaru resumed annoyed to which both blondes chuckled, even Asuma had a similar reaction, at least his team got along.

"Hey guys heads up, we're arriving to the place." Chōji said. Both blondes looked at each other and their expression changed to a serious look as they nodded in acknowledgement.

"You both know the drill, go in, get what you came for and leave, we'll rendezvous on the rooftop in 5, no more, no less."

'Yes Asuma-sensei!" Both blonds responded simultaneously.

In a few seconds they arrived to an apartment complex where Naruto's old home was located, Chōji started descending slowly to let the duo land safely, both approached the edge to take a look down below.

" _Nervous_?"

" _No, you?_ "

" _Why would I? I've done this a hundred times._ " Ino replied.

" _Figures, as we planned then!_ "

Once the helicopter was close enough to rooftop level both teens jumped landing safely, they felt as Chōji lifted the machine again away from them, only a current of air being felt.

"I hope they don't go too far..."

"If Asuma-sensei said 5 minutes, the in 5 minutes they'll be here, don't worry." Ino assured.

"Ok then, let's do this!"

Both teens went over to the locked door that led to the emergency stairs, it was surprisingly unlocked from the other side so they entered silently into the building.

" _Let's keep it silent from here, don't want to wake up anyone._ "Naruto thought, Ino nodded and kept close while they descended the stairs.

" _My place is just one floor down._ "

" _You almost make it sound as an invitation to sleep over._ " she giggled.

" _H-hey! Quit it will ya?!_ "

" _You should know by now I like teasing, get used to it._ " She finished, Naruto just kept his composure while they continued walking. Once they reached the hallway both blondes continued walking until they saw the apartment they were looking for almost at the very end, the main door was covered with yellow tape indicating the police had already been there.

" _Damn it..._ "

" _Do you think they found it?_ "

" _With some luck no_ _, I doubt they knew about it, I'm sure it's still here._ "

He proceeded to remove the tape and use his old key which surprisingly still worked, the door creaked as it opened and he entered first, Ino soon followed carefully. As he expected the whole place had been turned upside down, the police had walked all over the place and did not seem to know what they were even looking for, boxes, loads of paper, some photographs and even clothes were laying all over the apartment, this did not bother him however, he knew his father was a crafty and ingenious man.

" _Do you know where it could be?_ "

" _Sorta, give me a minute._ "

Naruto knelt and started to make several hand seals, Ino surprisingly did not know for what jutsu until he stopped and used his right hand to touch the floor, immediately a green glowing pattern of kanji surrounded all the surfaces around the apartment.

" _A barrier jutsu?_ "

" _More like a detecting jutsu, I studied earlier the barrier around the village as a start and figured I could use something similar to detect chakra imbued things, my dad's kunai for example._ "

" _... And you created it all by yourself?! This is awesome! Why didn't you tell me earlier?!_ " Ino's internal voice sounded genuinely amazed.

" _Didn't think of it as a big deal..._ " Naruto casually responded as he searched around the apartment with his hand extended, the glowing kanji seal around his hand moving with him.

" _Not a big deal?! Naruto, you just created a jutsu on your own and that's not a big deal?! This is HUGE! Hokage-sama and Jiraiya-sensei will be SO proud of you!_ "

" _Do you mind lowering your voice? I'm trying to concentrate here..._ "

" _Oh, sorry..._ "

It didn't take long for him to find the item he was looking for, right above them in the living room, he could make the silhouette of a small weapon buried behind the concrete.

" _Found it!_ "

" _How are we supposed to get it now?_ "

" _Leave that to me, this is the other half of the jutsu!_ "

He started to pull the kanji seal to himself and it glowed with more intensity, the kunai started to move on his own slowly to his relief until it eventually detached from the structure.

" _Bingo! Now let's get out of here._ "

Naruto did not respond, he simply held the kunai in silence as he started to form a thought in his head, wondering if it could work.

" _What are you doing? Let's go!_ "

"Hold on, I need to try something..." he spoke this time.

"This was not part of the plan! We have what we came for! Let's get out of here before-"

It was too late, she could literally sense several faint signatures from all directions starting to surround the building.

"Damn it! The police is here! They knew we were coming!"

"Just give me a second..."

Naruto poured his own chakra into the kunai hoping his parents would be able to sense it, he naively thought this action would get his father to actually show up right there and then and take them away from danger, the chakra was just a way to trigger the weapon into reacting to his father's, or at least that was what he believed would happen. Ino felt the signatures coming dangerously close to where they stood, inside the building from across the street she could start to see several figures also moving close to the windows with what she assumed were sniper rifles, she moved over to grab his arm.

"Naruto we have to go, NOW!" she proclaimed now worried.

"Hold on!" he insisted.

Now several footsteps could be heard just outside the door, an entire squadron probably, they were now surrounded, their only escape now being through one of the windows, Ino frantically grabbed Naruto and tried to pull him but he jerked away and continued to hopelessly put more chakra into the kunai, nothing happened.

"NARUTO!"

A loud explosion interrupted them, the front door had been blown away, smoke and splinters entered the living room where the duo stood, several armed officers entered at a quick pace. Ino found herself in a predicament, if Naruto did not move she could not risk to fight in such a narrow space with so many people without risking his safety or hers, in a split second she opted to follow what her instinct told her at that moment, escape.

"FREEZE! ON THE GROUND NOW! Shouted the squadron leader as soon as he saw the pair, the others followed aiming their assault weapons at them.

With a heavy heart, Ino threw a smoke bomb and the place was immediately darkened, blinding everyone already inside and also the sniper team across the building, the window broke and a silhouette surrounded by the smoke jumped followed by a barrage of shuriken that flew hitting some of the scopes of the rifles on the other side, they tried to fire but only managed to hit the walls of the other building, Ino took advantage of the distraction to dash the wall and get quickly all the way to the top, more shots were fired from the ground below but none of them found their target.

Inside Naruto's apartment the smoke slowly started to dissipate as the squadron surrounded the blond teenager.

"DROP THE WEAPON, NOW!

Naruto was forced to oblige, hands behind his head and face down on the ground.

-0-

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

 **I feel like it's been forever since I last updated the story, sorry 'bout that, funny thing is I have a lot of free time at work yet I choose to do other stuff like play WoW or watch a movie lol, that's how much free time I get once I'm done with work which is usually one or two hours at most, with that much free time I could probably write a whole chapter every single night but as I said, well... Anyways, back with another chapter, not the last one for this year I believe, I can at least put two more soon, cheers!**


	11. Collateral Damage

***FIVE MINUTES EARLIER***

"We're wasting our time senpai..." Iruka said just before a loud yawn came from his mouth.

Anko was having none of it, for the last two hours they had parked the car just a block away from Naruto's apartment, she had a hunch since the last talk with Chen that somehow clicked inside her head about being there, it could not be a coincidence he had mentioned it, Iruka of course did not believe anything she had said before, Chen was a manipulative individual and his boss just happened to surprisingly believe in his words for some unknown reason. He was very tired, all he wanted to do at that moment was go to his apartment and fall to his bed into deep slumber.

"Back up the seat and get some rest if you're so tired." She replied while she kept watching with binoculars over the place from the driver's seat.

"What are the chances he comes exactly tonight to the apartment anyway? We're just gambling here..."

"Call it what you want, I'm not moving until morning if I have to."

"But why? Why are you so confident what that Chen guy said is true? For all we know he could've played us just to avoid arrest!"

"Mind your tone Iruka, we may be friends but I'm still your superior!" Anko spat angrily.

"S-sorry senpai... can I ask you something though? Do you believe the stories about Konoha?"

"Me? Why would I? I've never been there, only God knows if that place even exists now..."

"Now? So you do believe it existed at some point?"

"Maybe, I've heard lots of stories growing up as a kid, why are you asking me that?"

"Because if that kid went there, how do we know he's even alive now? What if he's already gone?"

"So you're saying he was kidnapped and tortured to death?"

"It's not that far fetched is it?"

"Seriously Iruka, sometimes I wonder where's your common sense... Shinobi don't work like the Yakuza, you know that, if they wanted him dead then his body would've gone to a morgue instead, he would've been another dead body on that rooftop back then."

"Yeah, I guess you're right, shinobi kill on the spot..."

"We Iruka, we kill on the spot, never forget that."

"Senpai... You should not mention that so openly, we don't who's listening." he said concerned.

"If the car was bugged I'd know it, trust me, relax a little-" her expression suddenly changed.

"What? What is it?"

Anko did not answer, she pulled her trench coat off and checked one of the inside pockets until she found what she was looking for, a folded piece of paper that reacted with a low glowing yellow energy.

"Is that...?"

"A seal I placed on the apartment! It reacts to any chakra presence close to it!" She turned to face Iruka and grinned "Someone's in there right now! Call all available units!"

* * *

 ***PRESENT***

From the rooftop, Ino could already feel more police coming her way, she jammed the door using a nearby chain and lock and tried to get a feel for her teammates, to her luck, Asuma had arrived just in time as the five minutes had passed, she was about to take a long jump to reach the other side but when she felt the helicopter was actually going to where she stood her mind changed. As soon as it was within reach, she disappeared as she got to the interior of the cabin.

"Where's Naruto?" Asked Shikamaru, Ino ignored him and she went over to Chōji's seat.

"Take us off, now!" she demanded.

"But what about Naruto?..:"

"Ino! Where is Naruto?!" Shikamaru asked again more sternly.

"Just take us off Chōji!"

He was obviously confused at her demand, how could they leave while abandoning their teammate? Was she out of her mind? Desperately she took the cyclic control and they started to distance themselves from the building, Asuma immediately went to grab her by her shoulders and forcefully turned her around to face him while Chōji regained control.

"Ino! Look at me! Where is Naruto?!"

As that moment from the other side of the building a loud bang could be heard which made the whole team turn their heads over. The door leading to the rooftop had been opened and armed officers surrounded the perimeter looking for someone, they were completely oblivious to the fact that just a few meters from them the helicopter was hovering, had Ino not taken some distance the air current produced could have exposed them.

"It was an trap, the police was waiting on us..." she finally said while walking over to the edge of the cabin to look below.

"The police? How are you so sure it was them?!" Asuma asked walking over to join her.

"I did not sense any chakra signatures from any of them, plus they had uniforms."

"Ino, look at me..." Asuma asked gently this time, she complied with an anxious look "What happened to Naruto?"

"I... I left him there..."

* * *

Curious neighbors looked over their windows, some behind the curtains while the police carried a handcuffed Naruto to one of the vans waiting for him, Anko and Iruka were already there waiting for him before he would get inside. Some of the police officers were telling the bystanders to leave the area or to return to their apartments as this was as usual, police business.

"Naruto Uzumaki... Fancy seeing you here, we got a lot to talk about young man." She nodded to one of the officers carrying him by the arm and he proceeded to put him inside the back of the armored van, both Anko and Iruka as well as two more armed police officers jumped in with him, during the ride until the convoy arrived to the police station, Anko was confident she could get some information out of him.

The trip was actually more silent than she expected, she was looking at him the entire time wondering if he would speak or say something to beg for his freedom, but he never did, he just kept his eyes closed the entire time as if in deep thought.

" _Ino where are you?!_ "

"What were you doing there tonight kid?" Anko asked trying to break the silence, her question interrupted him and made him open his eyes to look at hers, he remained silent. "You know, this isn't gonna get any better for you if you don't talk, you've got lots of things to answer for, are you sure, you want to use the silent treatment with me?"

"How did you know I was there?" he suddenly asked.

"We were watching the apartment, we knew you would eventually return." Iruka interjected.

"Did you?" This response got them both curious. "I've been gone for over a month and suddenly you guys show up at the same time I do... that requires some skills you know."

"What are you implying kid?"

"Do you want me to say it out loud in front of them?" Naruto was referring to the other two officers on each side of him, highlighting the fact they did not possess chakra. Anko remained silent for a moment, she leaned over closer.

"Go ahead kid, let me hear your version." She said almost daring him to speak, she already knew what he wanted to say.

"You guys are shinobi, both of you."

Iruka suddenly felt nervous and looked over to Anko who burst out laughing in response to his comment, yet Naruto kept a sly smirk on his face the whole time, this made him feel even more uneasy, Anko continued to laugh until she finally calmed herself.

"Really? That's the best you could come up with? Okay let me tell you something kid, you're facing several charges, suspect on a crime scene, reckless driving even though your blonde girlfriend was the one actually driving that bike, causing several traffic accidents and, oh, those dead men on the rooftop we found? It'd be a shame such a young man like yourself went to jail for so long, don't you think? I'll tell you now what I think... I think it's time you realize the situation you're in and stop fantasizing!" Her tone turning more menacing.

"Play it off all you want, it doesn't matter anyway." He looked away.

His response was definitely not what she had expected, Anko knew now she needed to try a different approach this time, intimidation to her surprise did not work with the boy, aside from the fact he did not seem to care at the moment.

"Look, all I want is some answers, you seem like a good kid so why throw your life away for nothing?"

"You should be asking Fugaku Uchiha, not me."

A tense silence engulfed the van, only the engine roar was heard.

"Fugaku Uchiha? The head of Uchiha Corp? What does he have to do with this?" Iruka suddenly asked.

"Its a long story but if you lock me in a cell tonight you'll be making the greatest mistake of your careers."

"And why would that be?" Now Anko asked.

"Because if you hand me over, you'll be helping him to get what he wants."

"An that is...?"

"To take over."

Again the inside of the van was filled with more silence, Naruto knew his words had picked their interests but lacked the right questions, at the moment he was willing to let them know what was really happening but he felt currently it was prudent to keep quiet in front of the other policemen.

"Could you elaborate more on that?"

He opened his mouth but before anything could be said they all went tumbling inside, the van had suddenly been hit by another armored truck with such impact that it caused them to flip over twice and land hard on the ground.

The rest of the convoy was met with grenade launchers blowing them all up, the four patrols tasked to guard Naruto were gone in seconds, now scraps of burned cars on the side of the road.

Naruto's head was spinning, the headache started to appear and his body ached all over. He slowly opened his eyes to see Iruka groaning in pain, Anko was still moving but struggled to do so.

"Ugh... Are you guys okay?" Iruka asked.

Anko tried responding but a sharp pain shot through her body that made her yell, her coat had started to get bloody. Naruto managed to move through the splinters all other the place to get to her and knelt to see what had happened, Iruka was about to protest but once Naruto moved her coat aside he realized his superior had been stabbed through the right leg by a large piece of metal during the crash, his demeanor changed and started to panic.

"I can't pull her out, she'll lose a lot of blood if I do, You guys must have morphine or something here right?!" said Naruto

"D-don't mind me, I'll be fine..." Anko said painfully.

"Senpai!"

Despite being handcuffed, Naruto managed to rip a lower piece of the coat and use it to wrap it around her leg applying pressure on the wound, the other two officers thanks to their vests and helmets were quicker to recover.

"Here, keep the pressure on this point." Naruto instructed Iruka who simply obeyed.

"You're... gonna pay... for my coat boy..." she said weakly ans starting to sweat.

"I'll get you a new one, that's a promise..." he replied with a smile, he looked over to the front seats but both officers there were either unconscious or dead from the impact, their bodies lied hanging upside down from the seat belts.

"Stay here!" One of the guards said while the other one opened the door to check what had happened, to the group's horror as soon as both men were outside a barrage of bullets went through them and their bodies fell to the ground with a loud thud, Naruto immediately reacted out of instinct and performed hand seals followed by placing his hand on one of the walls, kanji seals started to appear around the van's interior and the doors closed shut.

"W-what are you doing?!" Asked Iruka, his voice agitated.

"Gaining some time..." Naruto replied leaning over one of the small openings to see outside, he noticed several black sedan with no license plates, groups of men with the same uniform and weapons as that night when he met Ino, covered in tactical combat gear, all black from head to toe, helmets and gas masks to cover their faces, two of them were already approaching them, he assumed they were the ones who opened fire against the officers.

" _Great... Ino if you can hear me, this'd be a great time to help!_ "

"What's going on?! Who's out there?"

"The guys who were after me that night..." He turned to face the duo "Someone must've talked in your division."

"W-what?! H-how...?"

Anko remained silent, she already had a pretty good idea of who might have ratted them out, her teeth clenched in anger.

"That snake! Kabuto!"

"Doesn't matter now, we gotta find a way to get out of here and take you to a hospital or you'll bleed to death!"

"You'll run off the moment we... open those doors again..." Anko managed to say still grabbing her injured leg.

"Maybe you're right lady, but I'm not gonna your blood on my hands... hey you, do you have a radio or something to call for backup?" he was again talking to Iruka who snapped out of his state and remembered hi indeed had a radio he could use, only when he went to grab it from his waist he noticed it had been broken probably during the impact.

"Use mine..." Anko said moving her hand to her belt where her own radio was, luckily this one was intact, Iruka grabbed it and started to call the available units in the area also mentioning the officers who were down or injured, a loud thud was heard coming from the doors, they all looked with worry but Naruto kept his composure.

"I placed a sealing barrier around us, they won't get in as long as I hold it, just keep calling that back up!"

More thuds, the van moved but the doors remained shut.

" _Ino where the hell are you?!_ "

"What's taking so long?!" Another voice outside, Naruto peeked through the opening again and saw a man with light blue hair reaching his shoulder length dressed in a grey business suit, green eyes and a menacing aura.

" _Shinobi..._ " he thought.

The man approached the van and one of the armed mercenaries whispered something to his hear, the man smiled and simply proceeded to knock on the door casually, in an unusual jolly voice he spoke.

"Naruto Uzumaki! We know you're theeeere!" he finished almost in a singing yet mocking tone, Naruto and the others tensed.

"Who's that guy?!" Anko asked.

"I have no idea..."

"Just come on out and let's get this over with, we don't mean to kill you or anything, we have orders to take you alive so just be a good boy and open these doors will ya?" the man finished.

"What about the officers inside? One of them is wounded and needs medical attention!" Naruto responded.

"Oh well, that's none of my business really, we're only here for you, ever heard of collateral damage?" He asked casually.

"W-what the hell is this guy's problem?!" Iruka said in a low voice to Naruto who kept thinking what his next move should be, he could hold the barrier for a longer period but Anko's leg would continue to get worse if they stayed there.

"We can do this the easy or the hard way. What's it gonna be kid?"

"Go fuck yourself..." Naruto replied casually, the man obviously did not like his answer and signaled one of the men to give him something.

"Have it your way!"

Click. Something was placed on the doors.

"C4... they're gonna blow doors!"

"I can handle it!"

The men took several steps back and a loud bang shook the van, despite the explosion Naruto managed to hold on to the seal using both hands and the doors held, his seal was stronger that expected.

"Senpai hold on!" Iruka continued to put pressure on Anko's wound, his hands and shirt now stained with her blood.

"Where's your backup?!" Asked Naruto.

"Last chance kid! Nobody's gonna come to save you!"

Before anyone else said a word, several gun shots started to go off from a different direction, some of the mercenary fell to the ground dead, the shots came from the road this time, behind the burning debris other patrols had arrived just in time and used the smoke to their advantage to conceal their presence, now the counter attack began. The man with blue hair saw himself forced to retreat behind the armored sedans, some of his men stayed behind as cover but also fell to the officer's bullets. They regrouped while the police advanced forming a barricade using special riot shields around the van where Naruto and company remained trapped.

"Officer Mitarashi! It's Ibiki!" A male voice yelled from behind the doors, Naruto looked over to Anko and Iruka for confirmation to which they both nodded indicating he was on their side, Naruto released the seal and as soon as the doors opened a tall older man met them, he seemed muscular behind his dark blue Kevlar body armor, his face with two scars that ran down from the length of his eyes to his jaw, instead of a helmet like the rest of the squadron he used a bandanna on his seemingly bald head.

"Glad the SAT is here!"

"Who's this?! What happened to officer Mitarashi?!"

"No time for that now! We need to get her to a hospital NOW!" responded Iruka.

"Hey lady, this is gonna hurt like hell! I need to pull you from that bar, you ready?" Anko weakly nodded, she was transpiring more now but took deep breath and prepared for the worse part "I need you to keep the pressure on her leg as soon as she's free, ready? On the count of three! One! Two!..."

And they pulled, as expected Anko screamed her heart out in pain as the metal bar slid out from her leg, the blood was thankfully controlled in time by Iruka, Naruto assisted him in carrying Anko outside of the van slowly while the man known as Ibiki used his assault rifle to provide cover fire, an explosion engulfed behind the group, the hired mercenaries had switched to using their grenade launchers again, part of the barricade formed started to step back so they all opted to move behind the van for better cover until the barricade regrouped. Naruto took notice of the top of a highway interchange and the van had been dangerously close to the edge.

"Who are these guys?! Why are they after you?!" Iruka asked.

"They're hired goons by Uchiha Corp! They want me because my mom and dad have something they're after!"

"So you're leverage!" Ibiki said.

"I'm sorry you are...?!"

"Captain Ibiki Morino! Leader of the Zero division of the SAT!" he replied.

"SAT?!"

"Special Assault Team!" Anko replied.

More heavy fire continued to rain on them, the armored van's metal structure echoed across the zone as most of the bullets continued to bounce off it.

"We can't stay here! We have a couple of armored trucks over there!"

"The risk is too high Ibiki! A stray bullet could hit any of us if we move!"

Naruto gave some thought to his next move, it would be risky but at the moment it seemed like the only logical option to get out of harm's way.

"Uncuff me!"

"What?!" Anko looked at him like he was crazy.

"Let me help! I got a plan!"

"No! You're still under arrest! We're not letting you go regardless!"

"I can't help if I have these on! Just trust me on this one please!" Naruto finished extending both arms to her desperately looking for her approval, Anko did not want to release his handcuffs for obvious reasons, if they set him free who knew m if he would just run and leave them there or if instead he would actually try to attack them, on top of that, if word that he was set free got out, her career could be jeopardized, their situation however looked very grim on their side and at that moment she remembered Chen's words earlier about him being a good person, she looked deep in his eyes for deceit, she found none, the boy was being genuine about helping. It did not take long for her mind to be changed and she nodded to Iruka, he looked somewhat worried but opted to trust her call and used his keys to free Naruto's hands.

"There! Now what are you gonna do?!"

"When I tell you to run to the other side, do it! I'm gonna take care of these assholes!"

Naruto turned to face the van and started to make a series of hand seals, the trio's expression suggested they knew what he was about to do, only they looked at each other wondering how good of an idea it would be.

"You shouldn't use that out here!"

"No time to discuss that with you now! Just run at my signal and get to safety!"

Naruto finished his seals and prepared for the next move, he waited for all three officers to get to the corner of the van, Ibiki being the larger man carried Anko on both his arms, Iruka got his pistol ready and waited for Naruto's signal.

"NOW!"

He pressed his right palm hard on the van and it flew at a great speed, it flipped a few times as it reached its intended target, the mercenary group. It managed to to take out several of the attackers until the final impact against the other sedans finally happened. Iruka turned his head to look at the damage.

"Shit! This kid is serious?! Using ninjutsu in public?!"

"Tch! I don't blame him, look at all the mess they've done!"

Naruto dashed to face his attackers before they could react, the first mercenary on his way tried aiming his rifle but it was pushed away before he could even get a target, Naruto grabbed the man's arm from behind and applied an arm lock while turning him around to face his comrades who started firing, the man's Kevlar vest absorbed a great rain of bullets but he was already dead, Naruto continued using his body as a shield and pushed forward until he closed the gap, he launched the dead man's body against other two mercenaries who were reloading their rifles. He had already gathered enough chakra to move faster and one by one he started taking out the survivors, kicking their helmets, using punches and combinations, throwing them over his shoulder with enough force against other vehicles to render them unconscious, one group hiding behind one of the sedans took him by surprise after he finished another mercenary and fired while his back was turned but the shock in their faces, if it could have been seen at that moment thanks to their masks, was of pure fear as the bullets simply remained suspended around him, his chakra nature being wind had formed a natural barrier that surrounded all his body making the attacks with firearms completely ineffective. Naruto turned his attention to them and proceed to turn their lights out believing this to be the last of the bunch, the he felt a sharp pain in his abdomen, he noticed a shuriken had found its way through his prisoner's vest but it did not cause major damage, he jumped a few steps back taking the shuriken out and waited for his attacker to make the next move.

"Attacking from the back huh? Show yourself!"

Anko had given the order to lower weapons and let Naruto handle the situation, this gave the opportunity for the last man standing to step out of hiding.

"Bold move kid, using ninjutsu in a public place, think that's smart?" the man with blue hair said as he walked out with a handful of shuriken.

"I'm not a kid..." Naruto placed himself in a fighting stance while silently he gathered chakra "And I don't care much about shinobi rules, you attacked me and killed innocents, I'm taking you down!"

"So that's how it's gonna be eh? Fine, I don't care much about rules either, I was told to bring you alive, they didn't say anything about hurting you..." the man smiled.

"Who's 'they'?"

"None of your business, now let's do this!"

The blue haired man threw a barrage of shuriken at Naruto, he dodged them and they hit the patrol cars, Iruka and the others quickly took cover to avoid any injuries. He went in for an opening but as he threw the punch was met with a piece of a car's door instead, his eyes went left just in time to see an new barrage of shuriken heading his way, he dodged them again one by one but failed to see the man had placed himself just below him, he smiled before placing a hard punch in Naruto's stomach that took his breath away and launched him against the remains of the now empty sedans, his back bounced against one of the doors but somehow he remained on his two feet. Noticing the predicament Naruto was in, Iruka aimed his pistol and fired, the squadron followed forcing the man to jump and dodge at an alarming speed.

"DON'T INTERFERE!"

He launched a kunai with an explosive tag attached to it, Anko immediately knew what it meant.

"EVERYONE GET DOWN!" She yelled.

The explosion took everyone by surprise, several police officers and agents were sent flying, their screams of pain echoed across the highway, Ibiki used his body to cover Anko from the blast but he was knocked to the ground with her, she writhed in pain grabbing her leg.

" _This guy!_ _I gotta finish this!"_

Naruto regained his strength and took the distraction to dash in front of the man and use his knee directly against his face, the impact was harder than he had anticipated and forced him to take several steps back, his nose was dripping blood.

"YOU BASTARD! YOU BROKE MY NOSE!"

"Serves you right! Come!" Naruto taunted, regaining focus " _I have to end this now!_ "

In anger the man took out a scroll and summoned a much larger shuriken, then launched himself again not caring if he killed his target but Naruto was not going to let him have the advantage again, he performed hand seals and also dashed to meet him full front, his opponent was taken by surprise at this act of either bravery or stupidity which allowed the blond shinobi the second he needed to use his jutsu.

" **Futon: Reppūshō!** "

The compressed air in his palm hit the man directly in his chest, his eyes went wide in shock, his mouth released a painful groan and blood spat and his body was launched several meters away from everyone, he crashed directly against concrete and rolled a few times before finally stopping, immediately after several squadron officers of the SAT surrounded him with their rifle, the man had been rendered unconscious from the attack fortunately for them, he was handcuffed and dragged slowly to where the rest of the remaining patrols were.

Naruto finally let his body rest lowering his hands and taking a deep breath, he looked over to where the inspectors were and walked over to them, Ibiki placed Anko against one of the hoods of one a patrol car, Iruka put his gun away, no longer distrustful of the boy who had just saved them.

"You should go to the hospital and get that leg checked now inspector..."

"Anko Mitarashi... thank you, I..."

Naruto silenced her with one hand "I said I wanted to help, at least now you guys can question him and find out why he's after me..."

"W-wait! You're not leaving! You're still a suspect!"

"Iruka..." Anko gave him a look to let him know everything was fine "This won't look good for you, look at all this mess..." They all took one last look at the chaos provoked by both parties involved "I don't know how we're gonna cover up all of this..."

"I'm sure you'll find a way, the police is good at that, right? By the way, I need that kunai back."

"That's evidence young man."

"No, that's my father's property, you guys don't need it..." he extended his hand. Anko again looked for any hint of trickery in his eyes but found again nothing, she looked over to Iruka and nodded, he sighed in defeat and walked over to the van where they all rode minutes earlier, scrambling and looking through the rubble he found a plastic bag holding the kunai.

"Here..." Iruka handed the bag to Naruto and he replied with a cheeky grin.

'Awesome! So am I free to go now?" Iruka was about to protest but Anko hushed him.

"... We'll give you a 24 hour head start, then we'll come for you Naruto." She finished.

"I hope not, see ya around, officer Mitarashi! Captain Morino! Uh..."

"It's Iruka... Iruka Umino."

"Right! officer Umino! Later!"

Naruto jumped away from them to the area below the highway and disappeared as a shadow, the police trio stood there silently looking to the space where he had been a few seconds ago, ambulance sirens echoed from the distance while more police cars arrived at the scene.

"You think it was wise to let him go?" asked Ibiki.

"He's a shinobi, he'll be safer without us interfering, and we got now someone who can lead us in the right direction of this case..."

"Senpai, look..." Iruka said with a hint of worry in his voice, they noticed several bystanders had stopped their cars and appeared from other sides of the highway, some were either taking pictures or recording what had happened with their cellphones "This is not good, not for him..."

"Shit..." she knew exactly what he meant by that.

* * *

Naruto kept darting through the empty roads as silently as he could, he figured if he found a safe extraction point away form the scene he had caused and with the price in his hands, he could contact Ino and the group to finally return to Konoha. A few minutes later he found an open area that seemed under construction and currently empty.

" _Ino, talk to me! I got the kunai! I'm waiting on you guys!_ "

"... _We see you, wait there..._ "

" _Whoa! So you were there!_ "

She did not respond back but at least she had finally responded after several failed attempts to his surprise, her voice however did not sound content, he expected he would receive an earful for screwing up the plan but he figured it would be fine, after all he had what they came for. He soon fell the wind change from the chopper's helix coming closer until the figure of Asuma stepped out of thin air extending his hand to him, he happily jumped in grabbing his hand and disappeared inside the cabin. His expression changed as soon as he saw the look in Asuma's face, it was not worry, nor anger, it was something different. The helicopter started to lift off again and silence filled the cabin, he looked over to Shikamaru who had the exact same cold look, he finally looked over to Ino and walked over to her.

"Well, I got it! Look!" he showed her the kunai, her reaction however, he did not expect. She grabbed him by the shoulder with one hand and pushed him against one of the seats violently holding him tight with her free arm, this made him drop the kunai to the floor.

"Do you KNOW what you just did?!" She asked with a completely different tone, her eyes only showed anger, this was a different version of Ino, one he did not recognize.

"Uh... I beat the guys after me and handed one of them to the police?" He finished, feeling very uncomfortable by the position he was in.

"You think this is a game?!" Ino slammed him before releasing her hold and walking away from him, now Naruto was more confused.

"Hey! What's your problem?! I just fought with another shinobi and walked out alive! Shouldn't you be at least glad I'm here?!" his voice clearly upset.

"We NEVER! EVER! Use out abilities in public!" She almost yelled.

"So that's it?! You're mad at me because I used ninjutsu openly?!"

"Naruto, this is a serious issue, the people cannot know of our existence, what you did tonight exposed us..." now Asuma spoke, Naruto could not believe it.

"Asuma-sensei...What was I supposed to do? Let all those officers die?!"

"It's called collateral damage, had those guys taken you we would've eventually come to rescue you without causing such a troublesome situation..." Shikamaru sentenced.

"Shikamaru... you too?"

"People recorded you, took pictures of you and what happened, that'll be all over the news soon, which means the world will know your identity, which also means they'll know more of us exist and start looking for us, this is the real problem." Asuma responded.

"Look, we'll talk with Hokage-sama once we arrive, we'll figure something out but you can't just go out there using ninjutsu like there's no consequences, we hide ourselves from the world for a reason and you potentially endangered everything we've built."

"Are you guys joking?! People! Innocent people! They died tonight because of me and you're worried about your lifestyle?! We should be out there helping others! Not hiding like cowards!"

Ino was ticked at his last comment, she went back to meet him face to face.

"It took hundreds of years to build what we have! You think we're willing to risk it all for your selfish idealism?!"

"Selfish?! Of all people I thought you would understand Ino! Friends support each other no matter wha-"

"WE ARE NOT FRIENDS!" she pushed Naruto against one of the seats again, a long silence followed, Naruto's eyes went wide and his chest suddenly felt a painful sensation of emptiness.

"W-what did you say...?"

"You were just a target! A means to an end! You were a mission to me! Nothing else!"

Asuma and Shikamaru looked at each other with concern, had she gone too far with those words? They knew Naruto was a friend and teammate to them so why would she choose to say those things? Had anger gotten the better of her? Even Chōji who had been silent the whole time knew she was being irrational at that moment and was only speaking out of the spitefulness she felt because of what he had done. Naruto's expression remained the same for several seconds as Ino walked to the other side of the helicopter and took a seat on the edge of the cabin to calm herself down, Shikamaru tried to place his hand on her shoulder but she raised her own hand to let him know she needed to cool off. Naruto finally came back to his senses and decided to copy her actions but on the opposite side, his eyes lowered the whole time as he seated there watching at the night sky, something inside of him had broken and he knew it.

It was a long and silent ride back home.

-0-

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

 **What's this? another chapter so soon? Crazy huh? I decided to start taking advantage of all the free time I have at work so I can start bringing more chapters out, don't expect this to happen every week lol, but I did say at least one more chapter would come out before year's end and it's already being written, hope you guys enjoy this one, until next time!**


	12. The Next Step

"Good, again!"

Sasuke used a swift combination of punches against Naori's training pads while his Sharingan was activated, she absorbed every hit proficiently, he switched to a series of kicks, each feeling heavier than the last one. The purpose of the last few weeks was to hone his taijutsu skill that were lacking, Naori had turned out to be an excellent sparring partner, unlike Suigetsu, who was currently resting against one of the walls looking at the pair's session, he definitely did not have the same level of energy they had and decided he had enough for one night.

Naori was secretly training both boys while her boss was away, they had planned these sessions every night when it was convenient and luckily for them, Fugaku was too busy to even notice, the 'accident' with the camera servers had worked and with an extra bribe, the data of that night had been erased from the records permanently, now all Sasuke's focus was going to discover the power of his lineage instead of exposing his father's activities.

The last couple of minutes left Sasuke finished strong landing a hard roundhouse kick that pushed Naori a few feet back but still managed to absorb without much trouble, her own Sharingan was activated as well to watch closely every single one of Sasuke's attacks.

"Very nice, you're catching on quick Sasuke-kun."

Sasuke started to walk back to one of the benches in the training room and unwrapped his gloves, then his bandages, his sweat was proof of the workout he was having.

"So when will you start teaching me ninjutsu then?"

"When it's safe, taijutsu and the Sharingan combined make an excellent weapon for you right now, you're much stronger and faster than an average shinobi now and we need a larger space if you're gonna learn ninjutsu, we can't work on that here."

"Hey Naori-san, this whole training thing is more suited for you guys, I'm not even an Uchiha so tell me again, why am I here?"

"Because you don't want Sasuke's father on your case, unless you have a death wish feel free to walk away anytime..."

"Oh right..." he said annoyed and rolling his eyes.

" _Attention, we have a special bulletin!_ "

The attention of the group turned to the screen installed in the training room, the images of what seemed a police shootout with other men displayed while the reported described what had happened.

"Huh? a police shootout? Here?" Suigetsu said.

"Volume up..." Sasuke said, the voice command worked and the sound amplified, the images showed a blond boy around the same age as Sasuke pushing a police van against a group of mercenaries like it was a feather, the video was apparently recorded by a bystander. Immediately Naori's eyes narrowed when she recognized the boy on the screen.

" _The suspect has been identified by the authorities as Naruto Uzumaki..._ "

"What an idiot! He used ninjutsu in public!"

"Naruto Uzumaki... that name sounds familiar..."

"He's the boy your father is after."

Both Sasuke and Suigetsu turned to face Naori, clearly curious at her response.

"You know him?"

"Not personally, maybe you saw his name in one of the reports you found in his office, along with Orochimaru's..."

"Why is my dad after him?"

Naori ignored Sasuke's question and remained silent, she walked closer to the large screen and continued listening to the report.

"Naori, why is my father after that guy?"

"That's classified."

"Hey! Isn't that... Mizuki?!" Suigetsu recognized a man with light blue hair badly beat up being carried to the back of an armored SAT van. "Whoa, that guy kicked Mizuki's ass, cool!"

"Damn Mizuki..." Naori said in a low tone, they still head her "I need to make a call, we're done for today." She started to walk away.

"Hey Naori!" She stopped as Sasuke called her name "Can you tell me what's going on?!"

"Not right now..." She continued walking to the exit, leaving Sasuke with more questions than before.

* * *

The team's helicopter was reaching the outskirts of Konoha after a long and uncomfortable trip, Asuma had tried speaking with Naruto during their journey but he knew his words at the moment had no effect on him, it was like talking to a wall, he simply did not feel like listening to anyone. His thoughts were still lingering on Ino's words, 'We are not friends', what were they then? comrades? to call yourself a comrade the same principle of friendship applied, trust was necessary. Clearly after what he had done it was expected being trustworthy was out of the question, at least for now, trust did not exist on either side, he understood that clearly now. Asuma had given up on trying to console the boy, he figured it was better to leave him be for now, same for Ino, both needed time to clear their heads and let all the negative thoughts disappear.

The team finally reached a safe area to land and the genjutsu placed around the helicopter was lifted, as soon as Naruto saw the large mountain that acted as a genjutsu for the barrier he could not wait any further and to everyone's shock he leaped from the cabin, Ino quickly took notice of this and out of instinct she reached out to where he was, he landed safely on the pasture below them thanks to his chakra, she wanted to mimic him but Asuma stopped her, simply giving her a look that she would quickly understand, he needed to be alone for now.

Naruto rushed past the barrier and the guards who were taken by surprise but recognized him regardless. He was pissed, beyond pissed at that point, he wanted to let the Hokage have a piece of his mind and was now determined to do so, this was not the picture he had been given about being a Shinobi, to him it meant more than hiding.

He reached the building and did not even bother to use the door, opting instead to jump and run all the way to the top and enter the office through the window. The Hokage's guards were actually expecting him and stopped him from even attempting to open the window, his chakra signature had been detected way before he even reached the building. Once the Hokage saw who it was however, he motioned his guards to let the boy pass, they silently nodded and stepped back to allow Naruto space to enter the office.

"Why am I not surprised you didn't use the door..." Hiruzen said almost jokingly.

"Old man, I need to have a word with you."

"Well, what is it?"

"Alone please..."

Hiruzen signaled the two masked guards to leave the room, followed this he performed a sealing jutsu around the room to ensure nothing could be heard, Naruto was actually taken aback by his actions, as if almost reading his mind.

"I assume you're here about that mess you caused back in Tokyo, am I wrong?"

"... I see news travel fast here."

"We're shinobi Naruto, gathering information is just one of many arts we know how to do better than anyone."

"What about protecting innocent people? Is that something you can do better as well?"

Hiruzen went silent at that question for a moment.

"So this is not about you then..."

"Tell me old man, what would it take for the shinobi society to actually work for the good of others instead of personal interests?"

"Careful Naruto, you're not in a good position now to ask such questions."

"Why not? Am I detained or something? Or are you guys sentencing me to death for what I did? Wouldn't that go against my parents' wishes?"

Naruto was getting smarter and technically he was right, Minato and Kushina would not be very happy if they found out their son was either a prisoner or worse and that the village that was tasked to protect him was involved.

"No, you're not our prisoner and you're not sentenced to anything."

"Then answer me, why aren't we doing anything to right the wrongs of the world? Are we the only ones left?"

"No we're not, and because we don't work at the same pace the rest of society does, shinobi work in the shadows because other people will never understand what they fear."

"That's not what I asked... I noticed something tonight, there are more shinobi out there having regular lives in the city, probably the whole country, they're good people old man, they're trying to do what's right and guys like the ones who attacked me tonight don't play by anyone's rules, be it regular or shinobi."

"That doesn't mean we get to play using the same tactics, we established these rules long ago before any of us were born, Shinobi do not interfere in personal affairs unless hired to do so." He stood up from his chair and walked over to the windows to take a look outside "We don't get to choose how the rules of a game are made, we simply play the game by those rules." he finished.

"Would the rules change is Fugaku Uchiha was dead?"

The question caught him off guard, he looked over to Naruto with an eyebrow raised.

"Let me rephrase that... If I killed Fugaku Uchiha, will things change?"

"... No they wouldn't."

"Why?"

"He's just one of many powerful figures just here in Japan, his son will probably succeed him..."

"He's got a son?!"

"Sasuke Uchiha, a boy around your age as well."

"Do you know where he is now?"

"With his father probably, why?"

"..." Naruto ignored the question "Old man, I need to ask a favor, I know what I did has put you guys at risk and being here is honestly driving me crazy..."

"You're safe here Naruto, even after what happened nobody will find you here, don't tell me...?"

"Yeah, I need to leave this village, if what Asuma-sensei said is true then everyone will be safer without me here."

"Hmm? What did he say?"

"People know my identity now, they'll look for me no matter where I go, it's just a matter of time before Uchiha Corp finds this place if they also have shinobi so I need to keep moving, the village can't pay for what I did..."

"Naruto... Your parents asked us to watch over you..."

"Yeah well, that was their job... Besides, I'm old enough to make my choices since they're not even here."

His last statement could not be questioned, the boy as a shinobi was old enough to call the shots and choose what course of action was best for him.

"... Alright, but not alone, you need to have someone at your side in case something happens, I'll assign Ino Yamanaka as your bodygua-"

"No... I'd rather ask someone else in the village, just... not her."

The Hokage did not understand, they were training partners and from what he had seen, close friends so it did not make sense why he would not want her to watch his back but then again, it was not his business to question the boy's decision.

"Fine, where will you go then?"

"Osaka is a good place to start, I have someone there who can help me, then I'll keep moving until I'm ready."

"Ready? For what?"

"I'm a person of know interest now so it won't matter by then, just trust me on this one..." he finished.

At that moment Asuma and the rest of the team announced their presence by knocking on the door, Hiruzen lifted the barrier jutsu and told them to come in, as soon as the door opened the energy inside the room changed, tension could be felt all around and it was coming mainly from Naruto and Ino, at least now the Hokage had a faint idea something had happened earlier hence why he did not want the Yamanaka girl as his partner.

"You can go now Naruto, get some rest, I need to scold my son and his team here..." he said in a cheerful tone.

"Yes Hokage-sama!"

Hokage-sama? Everyone stood there surprised at the way he referred to Hiruzen instead of the usual 'old man' nickname, then again, they were not there earlier. Naruto turned around and walked past his team, Ino looked at him the whole way but he did not even blink an eye, his eyes only went to the door until he left the room, she knew she did not have the right at the moment to say anything to him but deep down that bothered her, still, she kept quiet until Naruto's steps could no longer be heard.

"So you want to explain what happened tonight?" the Hokage said while taking out his smoking pipe.

* * *

Naruto walked the empty streets of the village without really knowing where he was headed, he did not feel like going to the house right now, seeing Shikamaru and Chōji made him feel uncomfortable, he was sure he could not ask either of them to join him on his trip to Osaka, then again he did not really know many people, maybe he could ask Jiraiya, assuming he was still around and not on a different mission at the moment. He took a seat on a solitary bench near a park, a dim light post shining over it, he took a deep breath and tried to gather his thoughts again, the words of Ino however kept replaying in his head every time he thought about looking for a partner for his trip.

" _WE ARE NOT FRIENDS!"_

 _"_ Damn it... why did she say that?" his fist clenched.

"Hey! What are you doing out here so late?"

The voice of a woman startled him and he looked over to where it came from, then he saw a pink haired girl casually walking to him with a backpack over one of her shoulders and a white hospital uniform.

"S-sorry, I didn't see you there..."

"No no! I should apologize for scaring you! Did I interrupt you?"

"Umm... no, not really."

"You're Naruto right?"

"Yeah... and you're..."

"Sakura Haruno, we met back when you first came to Konoha, I was checking your vitals when you woke up, maybe you don't..."

"Right! Sakura! I remember now!" He scratched the back of his head feeling embarrassed for not remembering who she was "Did you just come out of the hospital?"

"Yes, just finished my shift and was heading home, what about you?"

"I... it doesn't matter." He looked away.

"I see, you don't want to tell me, silly me, I don't even know you to be asking you that, I'm so sorry..."

"No wait! It's not that!" he frantically waved both hands at her, this made her chuckle "I... sorta have a dilemma... I got this mission, and I need to go with at least one person I trust, the problem is... I don't trust them."

"I see... Mind if I sit?"

Naruto simply moved aside to allow her some space, she took a seat next to him and laid her backpack on the floor.

"If I remember correctly, You got assigned with Asuma-sensei's team right? Did something happen?"

"Yeah, didn't you see the news?" She shook her head no "Huh? I thought everyone would know by now..."

"I work at the hospital most of the time, we don't watch or care much about news or anything the media shows out there, why?"

"Oh... well, to put it simple, I screwed up, big time... so now my team is kinda mad at me, and I'm having a hard time wondering what I should do next."

"Why don't you just apologize and make amends with them?"

"it's not that simple... I gotta leave the village soon and where I'm going I can't be alone, at least that's what the old man Hokage told me, but in good conscience I can't ask any of them to join me and the only person I trust might or might not be here, see the dilemma?"

Sakura took out from her backpack a small back of chips, she opened them an offered Naruto some, he gladly accepted.

"So you need a traveling partner for a mission but you don't want your teammates involved, right?"

"Right."

"And is this mission long? Where are you headed?"

"Osaka, and yeah, it might take a while, to be honest I don't know if I'll return for a while..."

"And... did Hokage-sama input this rule to you about not traveling alone?"

"Pretty much, he's right though, after what I did it's not safe to be on my own, or even around me for that matter..."

Sakura again took some more chips to her mouth and offered more to Naruto who happily accepted again. She finished the bag and threw it on a trashcan next to the bench, after cleaning her hands she resumed her train of thoughts.

"You said the only person you trust is probably not here right now?"

"There's a chance he might be, then again, I want to leave as soon as possible and I can't wait for him to return if he's not here."

"I get it... I'll ask Hokage-sama tomorrow to let me join you then." she smiled.

"H-huh?" Naruto again was taken by surprise.

"You seem in a bit of a predicament right now so I don't see why I cannot help, I know we just met and all but a fundamental part of a shinobi's code is trust, between you, your friends and your peers in the village."

"But... you work at the hospital.."

"So?"

"So it's... dangerous for you?..." he was not even sure what he meant.

"If you're worried about me, don't be, I can handle myself on the battlefield just like any of you, being a nurse is just part time for me."

"But your shift... I mean... won't the hospital need you?"

"I'm the head of nursing staff, I believe I deserve also a break from hospital duties when I see fit, not like there's much activity over there now anyways..."

"B-but-"

"Look, if you don't want my help I'd prefer you just said it instead of 'but' all the time..."

Naruto was even more confused now, he had no idea this girl he had just met minutes earlier was also a shinobi, let alone she was so easygoing to even offer her help to a stranger like him, he wanted to at least make sure she was not lying, after all trust was hard to come by now for him.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Shoot."

"Why do you want to help someone you've just met?"

Sakura smiled again "It's a really long story, but to put is short, mom taught me to be nice to everyone, even strangers, this world needs better people in it and the best way to start is by helping each other out."

"I don't mean to sound rude or anything... but didn't she tell you not to trust strangers? What if you get hurt?"

"Hmm? Well, I assure you, that'll be the last mistake they ever make..." her left hand was grabbing the edge of the bench, Naruto noticed the cracks that started to form on it, she was barely applying any pressure and soon it was clear to him she was not lying about taking care of herself, he gulped at the strength she displayed.

"I-I see!" he laughed nervously, Sakura stopped what she was doing and let a laugh escape her as well, she did not want to scare him after all.

"Just let me know when you plan on leaving so I can get everything ready okay? I'll need to inform the hospital... Well, gotta go, see ya!"

Sakura stood up picking up her bag and waved goodbye before walking away and disappearing out of sight, Naruto remained motionless trying to process what had just happened. Out of the shadows a tall figure started to emerge, the blond teenager noticed the presence and turned to be met by none other than the Toad Sage himself.

"J-Jiraiya-sensei!"

"What's this I hear? You plan on leaving without my consent brat?"

"Wait a minute! How long you've been listening?!"

"I saw you since you walked out of the Hokage's office and followed you here, you didn't seem in a good mood so I kept my distance, also heard some rumors, care to explain brat?"

"Well..." he took a deep breath and prepared for another potential scolding at the hands of his teacher "The mission was simple, I needed to go back to Tokyo to recover this..." He pulled out the kunai from his pocket, Jiraiya recognized it as Minato's weapon right away "The police was waiting for us and I got caught, they were taking me to the station when some guys ambushed us on the highway and, story short, I used ninjutsu, got recorded and now I'm all over the news for it, so..."

"Ah, let me guess... The "we're a hidden society' speech right?"

"Right... that's why I can't stay here now, I understand if you're mad at me..."

"Hahahahaha... You're something else brat! I'm not mad at you, if anything I'd say I feel proud!"

Naruto's eyes went wide at his carefree response, he was expecting another lecture of the same topic but Jiraiya was not like other shinobi, he forgot that.

"Wait! you're not mad at me?"

"For what? For saving your own skin? You've got some guts kid, I'll tell you that!"

"How...? I thought all shinobi cared about was their secrecy and way of living...!"

"Not everyone thinks like that Naruto, I am a man of the people and I would gladly be in favor of the world knowing of our existence, sure not everyone will understand, but so what? Bureaucrats and leaders, they're just figures of power without any real power, what choice do they have but to accept us? It's a great start so we can all eventually coexist!"

"I'm speechless... honestly you know!"

"Tell me something though, why didn't your team back you up then?"

"I don't know... I tried calling them but..."

Jiraiya sighed "Look, I'm gonna talk with the Hokage and get to the bottom of this, some new rules need to be established, by the way, where's Ino? I thought you guys... Oh..."

Naruto's mood turned sour as soon as her name was brought up, it was none of his business but he figured something happened between the two, Naruto needed some space and hopefully not talk about it.

"You should go home, get some rest, it must've been a long night, I'm sure your head will feel lighter tomorrow morning."

He patted Naruto's shoulder and started to walk away from the boy.

"Always look forward Naruto, don't dwell in the past, life is about moving forward, eventually things will come into place." he said before leaving the area.

* * *

Ino waited outside of the Hokage's building with Shikamaru and Chōji while their sensei continued speaking with the Hokage inside his office, their mission had been an unofficial task and they were pretty sure Asuma was getting the scolding only a father could give to his son. Her mind was troubled, for the first time in years she felt conflicted about what had happened with Naruto, she knew she had been way too harsh and even better, she knew she had lied to him, she hurt the person who in fact she did consider a friend, yet her emotions won that night and maybe now it was not the best time to look for him. She slammed her fist against the wall of the building.

"Damn it! I messed up big time..."

"Saying it won't change anything right now, Naruto probably doesn't want to see any of us, we need to give him time."

"Hey hold on for a second! I didn't say anything, why is he mad at me too?!"

"Maybe he's not Chōji, maybe he's just mad at us..."

"Maybe he's just mad at me..." Ino said.

"Well he's got a reason, you took your words a bit too far Ino, Naruto is a friend to me, no matter what he did."

"Hey Chōji, you're not the only person who thinks that way, he's a friend to me as well, but that doesn't mean he gets a free pass for what he did."

"He was on his own Shikamaru, we simply watched, we could've helped earlier..."

"And tangle with the police? No, it could've been worse for us, Naruto did what he had to do... he's got a good reasons to be mad though."

"He tried to use the kunai to contact his dad... he really wanted to see them... I tried to stop him! I should've stopped him!"

"Doesn't matter now, look just go home Ino, me and Chōji will talk with him, try to ease things and let him know it was all a misunderstanding."

Ino was not completely sure that would work, minutes earlier when they met at the office she could literally cut the tension with her sword, he emanated nothing but resentment towards them, even Asuma his own sensei, she felt tempted to contact him telepathically at the moment but knew it was not wise, she could also probably sneak to a nearby location and read his mind using one of her jutsu but that would only make things worse once he found out his privacy was being invaded.

"Alright, Ill go home, take care you two..."

She waved her goodbye to both teammates and started to walk back home. As she walked further and further away she kept thinking, why did she say that? Why did those words leave her mouth if she was sure they were not true? Naruto WAS her friend, even way before he realized it but could still not reveal that to him, it was not her call to do it but she knew Naruto way back before the night in Tokyo. She felt tempted to tell him, maybe revealing the truth about their relationship would ease the tension she had created out of rage and stupidity, she was just as guilty as he had been that night, then again, she could probably find herself in trouble with the Hokage for doing so. in the end she opted not to but still wanted to try a different approach, the longer this situation dragged then the harder it would be to make amends with him, she needed to regain his trust somehow.

" _Naruto... It's Ino, can you hear me?_ "

There was no response, she figured chances for him to answer were actually very slim, after all she never replied back when he called her earlier during the time he needed her help.

" _I know the last thing you probably want to hear right now is my voice and I don't blame you, just... just hear me out for a second will ya?_ "

Again more silence.

" _I have to work a lot on my words, I really suck at it, yes, we are not supposed to use any type of jutsu out there because it's one of the shinobi rules but that's not the point, I shouldn't have lashed out at you the way I did, I was angry, really really angry at what you did out there... But then again, we didn't help you did we? We just watched..._ "

She knew he was listening at least for now despite the silent treatment she was getting.

"We _should've helped you... I... I should've helped you, these rules... all these stupid rules, I hate them as much as you do probably, but I follow them because that's the code I was taught since I was little, it angered me that you broke them and...well, we followed you the whole way... we waited for a chance, an opportunity to come in and get you out of there... then those guys showed up again and everything went to hell from that point on..._ "

Despite her lengthy talk Naruto never replied back, yet she continued.

" _I didn't mean what I said to you earlier, I... I was just so angry... now I know what I said was not what I really felt... that thing, about us not being friends... I did not mean that, I want you to know that..._ "

Maybe her words were working, she knew he was still there, listening as she almost reached her house, she reached for her keys.

" _You ARE a friend to me Naruto, a good friend and I trust you, I want you to know I'll watch your back no matter what happens from now on, I won't leave you again, and I hope you give me the chance to regain your trust again because I know I made a mistake..._ "

Ino started to form a smile, she felt her approach was working after all.

" _Hey, maybe later we can meet and talk, I want to clear this_ _misunderst-_ "

Suddenly the connection was cut off, her heart stopped, her eyes widened and she dropped the keys as she was about to open the front door, emptiness inside her chest filled her, she knew this feeling all to well and knew what it meant, her heart unexpectedly felt pain, not physical however, she did not understand why though, she was sure the shock for the sudden disconnection was there but why did her heart feel heavy also? She struggled to regain her composure, with a trembling hand she grabber her chest and tried to control her breath as it left her.

It was a clear sign Naruto had severed the connection between them.

-0-

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**

 **Hello again, happy to post this next chapter so fast, actually finished writing it in just one day, don't expect another one for what's left of the year though as of today I'll be traveling to spend the holidays with family and all that stuff, don't forget to like, follow and subscr- wait... this isn't Youtube, sorry :), just hope you like the chapter and continue to follow the story as it develops, this 2020 will be interesting year indeed for it. Leave a review if you want, let me know what you like and don't like about the story so far, constructive criticism is always welcomed and I know my writing isn't perfect so all the help I get is appreciated.**

 **Happy holidays everyone!**


	13. Family

One hand seal was all it took to break the connection, he had learned to feel chakra signatures, not at the same level as a true sensor but close. The same day Ino had placed the Shindenshin inside his brain he learned on his own how to find the signature, she had showed him the way to block the connection but not how to break it, it was something he had to figure out by himself.

Naruto was in a meditation state almost, all alone in the living room of the house, his right arm slowly lowered releasing the seal and then he finally opened his eyes and took a deep breath. Her words bothered him, his perception of Ino had changed in less than twenty four hours and the only image he kept of her was that of a liar, he was her mission objective and she did a tremendous job to bring him to Konoha, playing her part very well in the process.

He mentally cursed his luck for having to meet her, fall for her act and not realizing sooner deception was a part of her game, still, regretting the past would not change anything, he needed to remain focused and keep a stronger mind moving forward, soon he realized being a shinobi meant being also a good liar. The main door opened and his house mates entered, immediately the energy in the air changed, Naruto stood up and went into his room without uttering a single word.

"Naruto, wait..." Shikamaru called.

"I'll leave tomorrow guys, don't worry..."

Both of them looked at each other clearly not knowing what he was referring to.

"Huh? what do you mean?"

"It's obvious I don't fit in your team so I'll move elsewhere tomorrow, I don't want to be a burden."

"Naruto... you're not a burden." Chōji said.

"Didn't seem that way to me tonight..." his voice showed a hint of cockiness. Shikamaru spoke next.

"Stop acting like you didn't do anything wrong, we're at fault for not doing anything as well, but you changed the plan midway, had you followed instructions we wouldn't be talking about this!"

"The only reason I came to this village was to find a way to see my mom an dad again and nobody said I wasn't allowed to do what I did, it's why I went back there and while I appreciate your help I don't feel like explaining myself to anybody, good night."

Naruto went to close the door of his room but Shikamaru quickly stepped in and blocked it using his foot.

"Hey, I'm not done talking to you!"

"Move aside Shikamaru..." Naruto glared.

Chōji realized the situation would get out of hand if he remained there without interfering, he grabbed Shikamaru by the shoulders and gently moved him away from the door, he looked at his friend and nodded to let him know he would take care of this, he stepped back and let his friend talk.

"You must be tired, all of us are, and I don't suppose you want to hear a lecture from anyone right now..."

Naruto surprisingly did not close the door.

"Ino doesn't speak for us Naruto, you're still my teammate and my friend and I'm sure Shikamaru here thinks the same way." He looked over to his pony tailed friend who remained silent, Chōji gently smiled "Get some rest, I hope we can talk tomorrow with a cooler head and some food in the belly, everything makes more sense when you have food in your belly!" he chuckled "Good night." He saluted and stepped away from the door, he motioned Shikamaru to do the same and let him be for now.

Chōji was right, Naruto was very tired and had he not stopped Shikamaru from entering the room he would have hurt him, then again he did not know what the Nara boy could do in a fight so his guess was as good as any. He slowly closed the door and pondered on Chōji's words as he finally let himself fall to the bed, his eyes stared at the ceiling for a long time.

* * *

"I guess I have no choice do I?."

The Hokage currently found himself in an argument with the Toad Sage regarding the next course of action, the last couple of hours had been rough and he was not in the best state of mind to argue, especially with his former student.

"It's the perfect plan, I don't know why you're so worked up about it."

"It's bad enough he's national news, I still think staying here would be safer for him but I can't go against his wishes, but you're a great asset to Konoha, who knows for how long he'll be away, have you considered that?"

"A lot, I think it's better to travel with the boy, I can keep an eye on him, keep training him and find out what the Uchiha are up to, you know I work better when I'm outside of this village, staying here is like I'm aging faster around you people."

Hiruzen scoffed "You have a point there, your spy network is more efficient with you on the move."

Jiraiya had a huge grin on his face "I knew you'd say yes!"

"He mentioned he has family in Osaka, do you know who it is?"

"Not a clue, I will ask him when I get the chance."

"I need you to send me a report whenever something important happens, make sure you're on the move always, don't stay too long there..."

"I know I know, I'll set some hideouts once we're there, Naruto can take care of his own and I'm sure he'll like to spend some time with someone he actually knows, speaking of that... There's this girl from the hospital, Sakura Haruno, she will ask you tomorrow to let her join Naruto as well."

"Sakura? Hmm... I thought she wanted to remain in Konoha longer, her parents might actually be glad for once if she's out of here."

"While I think it's a good sentiment, I doubt she's leaving because of the whole inheritance deal, if I had to guess, she's doing it because of Naruto."

"So you think...?"

"It's none of our business Sarutobi-sensei, young love is a complicated thing."

"I see... what about Ino?"

"What about her? They're not on speaking terms for now so I doubt he wants her close."

The older man stood looking again through the window at the village, it was very late and most if not all activities had ceased at that hour.

"I suppose it's for the better."

"What do you mean by that?" Jiraiya's curiosity was piqued.

"Not of importance, do you have any contacts in Osaka that could help you with Minato and Kushina's whereabouts?"

"There is... one person there who can help, yes, not so sure if he'll be willing to help though... Kakashi Hatake"

That name made the Hokage feel uneasy, the man was a rogue shinobi, he had deserted the village long ago seeking a different path, soon they learned he had tried to assassinate the Raikage, the shinobi leader of the village of Kumo that resided surprisingly very far from Japan, the attempt however failed and Kakashi, although he survived, never returned to Konoha to answer for his actions and remained away from the village to lead a quiet life apparently, but in the village they knew he was still acting as a vigilante of sorts, killing criminals all over the country but without raising the suspicions of the general public.

"He's not reliable, why him?"

"We've kept our distance ever since that incident with Kumo but I never stopped keeping in touch with him, regardless of what he did he's still a valuable asset in my opinion, if anyone can help us find Naruto's parents, it's him."

"What about Tsunade? Isn't she a more reliable source?"

"I... Tsunade and I haven't spoken for some time and honestly I don't know how happy she'll be to see me or even hear of me..." Jiraiya looked away, Hiruzen decided not to press the matter.

"Fine... I hope you're right on this one Jiraiya."

* * *

Morning came fast, Naruto had managed to get just enough rest and wake up earlier than his housemates to avoid them entirely, he left the house and met Jiraiya at the Hokage's building, the older man had already packed for the trip and had told Naruto to leave his clothes in the village as he would buy the boy new ones, they were waiting on Sakura, the girl was currently talking with the leader of Konoha to inform him about her plans as Jiraiya had previously mentioned. Minutes later she emerged from the building with an energetic mood to let them know everything was fine, she would join the trip to Osaka and help Naruto find his relative, however she would need to head back once the mission had been completed, her duties to the hospital could not be left unattended.

The trip itself would take around eight hours if they were lucky, first a highway express bus to Mishima and then take the train directly to Osaka, they would have plenty of time to discuss their plans. Traveling by foot was also an option since they could run at high speed thanks to their chakra but opted not to do it to avoid getting attention on their way there, it would be hard and unnecessary to explain to a pedestrian or a farmer why they were running so fast across fields. Naruto did not know how to use the Henge or transformation jutsu to hide his identity so instead chose to wear a black hoodie to cover his yellow hair and part of his face, it was not much of a disguise but it was something at least, Sakura opted for a plain white shirt and a red jacket, Jiraiya only placed a brown cloak over his usual shinobi attire. The group walked past the gates of Konoha to the outside world once again and headed to the open road in search of the nearest bus stop that would take them to their first destination, Naruto remained oddly quiet.

"So who's this family member you mentioned?" Jiraiya asked to break the ice.

"A cousin."

"Cousin eh? a boy? girl?"

"You'll see when we get there, I'd rather not talk about it right now."

"What's with all the mystery eh kid?"

"Yeah Naruto, there's supposed to be trust in a team." Sakura added.

"It's not that I don't trust you guys, even though I have some issues with that, but I want to keep her identity a secret until we get there, she's also a shinobi like us."

"Ah, so it's a girl." Jiraiya smirked.

"... Damn it!"

"Hahahaha it's okay kid, if you don't want to give us her name we can wait until later, speaking of that, have you thought how long you want to stay there?"

"Honestly no, I don't even know if she'll like the idea of coming to Konoha, she has a life of her own already and is doing well."

"What does she do? You can tell us that right?" Sakura asked.

Naruto nodded "Last time we spoke she was getting a job in a big gaming company, she didn't want to get a career because she believes you could teach yourself to do anything you want like she did with chakra so she became a computing engineer, like she helps with all things that have to do with programming or coding and that sort of thing."

"So she's a techie, good, when was the last time you saw her anyway?"

"I dunno, a few months ago I guess? Why?"

"It's a good thing you guys kept in touch despite the distance, she must be someone important to you."

"She's the only family relative I have left aside from mom and dad, ever since coming to Konoha we haven't talked and I want to make sure she's alright, I just hope the Uchiha don't have her on their radar."

"If they did they would've gone after her already kid, do you know if she received any sort of training as a shinobi?"

"No, as far as I remember she taught herself, when we were kids we used to spar a little, we never got too serious but she was good, at the time we didn't know anything about chakra so we just went with our instinct to fight." Naruto chuckled and looked through the window "I even remember one time mom got mad at us because she helped me to get back at some kids on the streets who were mean to us, we beat them up really bad, after that... After that we stopped sparring and found other things to do like normal kids at that age, playing video games and things like that."

"What about her parents?"

"They... died in a car accident when she was a baby, she doesn't remember anything about that so I'd prefer if you guys don't question her about it."

* * *

"He what?..." Ino's eyes went wide.

"You heard me, he left." Chōji responded.

It was almost noon, Ino got little sleep the night earlier due to the guilt, she had spent her sleep hours instead thinking about what had happened with Naruto and figuring a way to talk with him personally again the next day, to her surprise when she arrived to the house of her friends she was greeted by a confused Shikamaru and Chōji who were also as surprised as her, they found nobody inside the room when they went to knock on his door that morning to invite him for breakfast.

"But when...?"

"We don't know, probably before the sun came up, we have no clue where he is now."

Ino tried sensing for his chakra but found no trace of it, she expanded her sensing range further like a radar but still nothing came, unless he somehow had learned overnight to suppress completely his chakra, which she thought was impossible as it flowed naturally like blood inside the body, he was no longer in Konoha.

"I need to talk with Hokage-sama, maybe he knows where he went to."

"Wait. what do you mean?" Shikamaru asked.

"He's not in the village Shikamaru, I... I can't sense him."

"Let's go then, if he left the village then he could be in danger."

"There's no need for you to worry..."

The voice startled the trio who who turned to see the Hokage walking towards the house.

"Hokage-sama!"

"Naruto left the village on a mission he requested, he's with Jiraiya and Sakura in case you're wondering."

" _Sakura...? why her?!_ " Ino's mind took a moment to process the last part.

"Can you tell us where he's headed?" Shikamaru asked.

"No, he asked me not to divulge information about it, all you need to know is he's under good care and should be back in a couple of days, in the meantime you two..." He eyes Shikamaru and Chōji "I have a mission for you as well, come by the office when you have a minute." Then he looked at Ino "You can take the day off Ino."

"Wait! Hokage-sama!"

He was about to leave "Yes?"

"I would like to join that mission if possible."

"It's not necessary, the mission requires male shinobi only and Asuma will be joining them."

"I meant Naruto's... wherever place he's headed, I want to go too."

The place remained silent, her partners looked at her surprised at her determination to go after him despite the recent events, she was not about to quit, not until she made things right.

"No."

"But Hokage-sama-"

"That's an order Ino Yamanaka..." he sentenced.

Not only she went speechless, she felt also powerless, the worst feeling in the world for her, none of her teammates dared to protest, if it was a direct order then it was out of their hands. The Hokage resumed leaving back to his office leaving the trio once again by themselves.

"Why...?" Ino said to herself.

"Hey Ino..." Shikamaru approached her and placed his hand on her shoulder "He'll be fine, go home and spend some time with your dad, when he's ready to talk then he will, he needs the space right now."

She did not say anything, her eyes only stared at the road where the Hokage had been a moment ago.

"Shikamaru, we should go take a look at that mission Hokage-sama mentioned."

Shikamaru nodded "Think about what I said Ino." he went back inside the house with his friend to get ready, Ino stood there in front of the house by herself for several seconds.

" _An order? Like hell it is!_ "

She was thinking about doing something really stupid, perhaps Naruto's recklessness had rubbed on her somewhat, she left the area in a hurry and followed the road where the leader of Konoha had gone to a few minutes ago, in her head she knew she could convince him to let her go as well to whatever place Naruto had gone to. She continued moving at a fast pace but was not able to find the elder shinobi, it was impossible he had already reached the office at his walking pace and she should have reached him by now, she stood there in the middle of the road as soon as she felt the presence of another man behind her.

"Something about what I said not clear young lady?" it was the Hokage's voice, Ino was impressed but remembered he was the Hokage for a reason, she relaxed and turned to face him.

"No Hokage-sama, I understand clearly what you said."

"Then? What is it?"

"All in good consciousness, I can't follow that order, I must speak with Naruto regardless."

Hiruzen sighed "I thought you said you understood clearly..."

"I don't mean to defy you, I... I just can't stand here and do nothing, I made a mistake and I will regret it until I set things right."

"What if he doesn't want you there? He specifically said he didn't want you on his team despite my suggestion."

"I get it, he has his reasons for that but even if he doesn't want to see me, I gotta try at least..."

The Hokage remained silent and in deep thought, he knew the girl would not change her mind "This isn't about your past history with him is it? Must I remind you you're forbidden to share that information with him?"

"I don't intend to do that, besides it's not my call, what I want is to get his trust back, that's all."

"I see..." He turned his back and continued smoking from his pipe "Unfortunately I cannot authorize you to leave the village, not officially anyways..."

Ino looked at him confused.

"I hear there are some great venues in Osaka this time of the year..." his head turned slightly to look at her and smiled "Do what you have to do lad."

Ino's expression changed immediately understanding what he meant, her heart filled with joy once more, she bowed politely.

"Yes Hokage-sama!"

* * *

"Sir, the team from Tokyo has arrived, they have the package."

"Good, where is it?"

"An old abandoned warehouse just a few blocks from here, we'll arrive shortly."

Fugaku Uchiha was well aware of the recent events in the city, he was inside his limousine escorted by guards riding in other trucks, with him his assistant Naori currently heading to an unknown location, Suigetsu surprisingly was told to take the day off and gladly he obeyed, Sasuke on the other hand found an excuse to avoid his father for a few more days claiming he was sick, for the time being his training activities remained a secret, Naori was actually turning out to be a woman of her word but her intentions remained a mystery, she was there with Fugaku completely unfazed by the potential risks she could face if her boss found out what she was up to.

"Sir, if I may ask... why a rescue instead of silencing him? It could have been done easily as well."

"I don't work that way Naori and you know that, people have their uses and I believe he's still qualified to do some more work for us, aside from the fact that if he dies I won't be able to read him."

"With all due respect sir, the media has already covered the events of last night so I don't understand what reading him would do differently for you."

Fugaku kept silent, he stared through the window waiting impatiently to reach his destination.

"What's the word on the rest of the hidden villages about last night?"

"It would seem at least three of them have placed a bounty on the boy's head, Kumo, Kiri and Iwa will probably send assassins in the next couple of hours, Suna has not declared a statement as of yet."

"Konoha will have to respond in some way if they want to protect the boy... What will you do Hiruzen?" he said the last part to himself.

"Sir, is it okay to let these shinobi enter the country unchecked? What if they actually kill the boy?"

"They're more than welcome to try, we'll send out men if needed to intercept the ones who reach the city, still their presence could help root out the kid wherever he is now, even Konoha."

The limo started to slow down, they found themselves in an large alleyway.

"We're here."

The driver opened the door and allowed Fugaku to step out first, he proceeded to do the same with the other door for Naori who adjusted her skirt as she looked around the area.

"This way sir."

Naori signaled the driver to wait there while she guided her boss inside a large old warehouse that seemed empty at first glance, after walking through several corridors inside the structure they started to see the armed men that were the custodians of the place, eventually they reached a large room where a black van stood, the sun's light pierced the old ceiling highlighting the vehicle to some extent. Fugaku looked at one of the men who went to the back of the van and opened the doors, two other men inside pushed to the ground another person whose hands were tied from behind and had a burlap bag over his head, the man grunted in pain as he tried to recover and regain his footing but was denied and pushed to his knees instead, Fugaku personally removed the piece of cloth from his head and the man struggled to adjust his vision as a shining light blinded him for a few seconds, he was wearing what was once a grey suit minus the upper part, covered in dirt and smog patches, he had light blue hair.

Soon realizing the situation he found himself in, with fear he slowly raised his eyes to face those of his boss, stoic as ever.

"I-I can explain!"

"We know you didn't talk to the authorities Mizuki, we had surveillance on you the whole time, what I really am curious about is how a 16 year old kid beat you like you were nothing..." Fugaku circled Mizuki.

"I-it would seem... the shinobi of Konoha trained him well s-sir..."

"In one month? No, something else is required to beat a Chunnin, look at me..."

Mizuki trembled and lowered his face down as he thought what was about to happen.

"Look at me Mizuki..."

Fugaku's voice was more demanding this time but he never raised it, Mizuki was clearly scared to death of looking straight into his eyes, he knew what an Uchiha was capable of doing with them, yet he had no other choice but to obey that command or face a more painful consequence. Trembling, he slowly raised his head again and his breath was cut short when Fugaku grabbed him by the neck almost choking him and placing him on his feet, then he yelled as he looked into a pair of crimson eyes, demonic almost, that pierced his very soul. Only five seconds passed in reality but it felt like an eternity to Mizuki, Fugaku released his hold on the chunnin when he saw exactly what he wanted to see and Mizuki fell unconscious to the ground.

"Did you find anything important sir?" Naori approached her boss but was stopped when she saw his expression, she had not seen him like that in some time. He looked worried.

"That kid... it can't be."

"Sir?"

"His chakra... that kid has Sage chakra, but how?"

"Sage? As in Senjutsu?"

"Change of plans." He looked at the other men "Take him to the laboratories, he might have some use left." Fugaku started walking outside, Naori followed.

"Sir what are your orders?"

"We cannot allow other shinobi to harm that boy, call Naka and tell him we need to intercept and deal with any external bounty hunters going after Naruto Uzumaki."

* * *

"See ya tomorrow!"

Karin Uzumaki had just finished her shift at the office and proceeded to leave the building, it had been a long day and she definitely needed a break. She was a very attractive girl and caught the eye of more than one employee at work, she never paid attention to anyone though, she was focused on investing time and money only in herself and not some other guy who most likely would not meet her expectations. She had become a target of sexual harassment from some of her coworkers at some point but remained neutral and away from the drama choosing to ignore these individuals rather than making a scene, in reality she could have handled them herself but it would have caused too much attention, especially after her cousin's intrepid stunt that caught the eye of the media.

She wanted to live a quiet life and on her own terms, if she had to deal with a few idiots along the way then so be it, but definitely not causing a commotion or physically hurting anyone, hitting a person's pocket worked way better for her than a confrontation and risking unwanted exposure. The other side of the coin was however that her bosses had too many connections to risk telling them what her issues at work were and potentially losing her job as a result, these companies would rather let go of good employees sooner than listen to them and that was a huge issue, an issue they did not deem worth the time.

She liked to travel on foot, her apartment was around a good twenty minute walk from the office and she could put her earplugs and listen to music from her cellphone while she reached it, maybe buy a few groceries along the way if her fridge was running low on supplies or something to decorate the place or maybe a new pair of shoes or clothes, she worked for that after all.

Karin soon reached the building and walked the stairs of the complex to the third floor, she walked to the front door and reached for her keys but something stopped her. She removed her earplugs and put them away before realizing there was a chakra signature around her, actually it was closer than she initially anticipated, too close in fact, someone was watching her from the shadows within that same floor.

"Who's there?"

A figure started to walk into the light to reveal a young boy dressed in a jeans and a black hoodie, he had whiskers and blond hair, blue eyes and a cheeky smile.

"I see your sensing skills are as sharp as ever cousin."

"Naruto...?" Karin's eyes widened, before he said anything else she jumped onto him and hugged him for dear life, Karin almost yelled in happiness as she spun him around while keeping the hug, Naruto could only chuckle and return the gesture.

"I can't believe you're here! Why didn't you call me earlier! What?! Five month?!" she said excitedly as she finally released the hug.

"Something like that, yeah." he scratched the back of his head "Sorry I came here uninvited "

"Nonsense!" she waved it off with her hand "You're family so you're welcome to visit anytime you like, come come! We got lots of things to talk about!" She urged Naruto to follow her as she once again reached for her keys and opened the door "And tell those two hiding back there to join us also, they're with you right?"

Naruto was not surprised, she was able to sense Sakura's and Jiraiya's chakra along with his own from the start, he was actually waiting for her to say something about them.

"Yeah, you guys can come out now." he signaled the duo to join them.

"The kid wasn't lying, her sensory skill is better than I thought." Jiraiya said proudly.

"Yeah, that takes a lot of chakra control, I thought Ino was a good sensor, guess I was wrong." Sakura finished while they walked to meet her.

"I'm Karin Uzumaki, and you guys are...?" she extended happily her hand.

"Sakura Haruno" The pink haired girl was the first to shake hands.

"I'm Jiraiya." He also greeted her.

The group entered the apartment and watched as Karin quickly tried to dust off and clean pieces of furniture going from one side to another.

"Sorry, I wasn't expecting any visit, do you guys want something to drink?" she walked over to the fridge and opened the door "I got some orange juice."

"I'll take a glass, how about you guys?" Naruto looked over to Sakura and Jiraiya, both declined.

"So what have you been up to? I tried calling you a few weeks ago but your number is always off, something going on?" She poured two glasses full of juice meanwhile.

"It's a bit complicated, I don't have a phone anymore and honestly I doubt I'll get one for now."

"Does it have anything to do with that stunt of yours on TV? You're all over the news now..."

The apartment grew silent as they looked at each other waiting for someone to speak, Naruto went over to take a seat on the couch.

"There's something I need your help with Karin, you better take a seat."

"Actually I'll be going, something's been bothering me since we arrived to the city that I need to check, you guys have a lot to talk about anyway and I doubt I'm needed here to explain anything."

"Wait, Jiraiya-sama, isn't it a bit late to go out? Where will you stay?" Sakura asked.

"Don't worry, there's a hotel I saw on the way here, I'm sure they can spare a room for an old man like me, I'll see you in the morning, is that okay Naruto?"

The blonde boy nodded "All right, be careful Jiraiya-sensei."

Jiraiya also nodded and proceeded to leave the apartment without saying anything else, Sakura looked over to Naruto in confusion as did Karin.

"Sensei?"

"Yeah, it's a long story."

* * *

" _Naruto where are you...?_ "

Ino's mind was rushing as she darted through the dark corridors of the city desperately looking for a chakra signature, something that could tell her where Naruto was, she knew he was in the city as small traces of his chakra could still be sensed despite her previous Shindenshin jutsu being lifted, the problem was pinpointing his exact location, her sensing range was small at the moment so it made it difficult for her to locate him. Ever since her arrival to Osaka for the past hour she realized her mission would be much harder than anticipated, after all other shinobi lived in the city as well but none of them was the signature she needed.

" _This is gonna be harder than I tho-_ "

A barrage of shuriken interrupted her thoughts, they came from behind but she was quick enough to duck under them, a second barrage came from one side, this time Ino jumped to avoid the danger and flipped in mid air to face her attackers, she readied herself going for the scroll holding her katana.

"Show yourselves!" She demanded.

Three figures started to emerge from the shadows walking calmly towards her position, once they revealed themselves in the light they stood in front of the lone blonde girl looking at her almost in a mocking way, a male and two women. The man had dark skin, black eyes and short white hair, he wore a grey vest and a katana strapped to his back, he casually chewed on a lollipop, one of the women was also dark skinned but had yellow eyes and red hair instead, like her partner she also carried her katana on her back and wore the same grey vest, the last woman who stood in the middle of the two was taller, she had fair skin, short yellow hair that reached to her shoulders and blue eyes, a long grey trench coat covered her torso and legs, she had a stoic look on her face. Ino spotted the emblem they all all shared in common in the form of a plate tied around their left arms.

These were shinobi from Kumo.

"So you're the famous Slayer..." said the red haired woman. "You don't look as intimidating as I thought."

"Hey Karui don't underestimate her, remember the reports said she has killed hundreds of people already, some of them shinobi, what if these reports are true?" said the man of the group."

"So fucking what? Stop being a chicken and man the hell up Omoi!" said the woman named Karui.

" _Kumo?! What the hell are they doing here?!_ "

"Ino Yamanaka, we're here for Naruto Uzumaki, where is he?" said the stoic woman.

-0-

 **Disclaimer: The usual, I don't own Naruto**

 **Hey there! Sorry for the long wait, hope the next couple of chapters I'm releasing along with this one are more than enough for now to satisfy those who are hooked to the story, thank you for your patience!**


	14. Wake Up Call

"What do you guys want with Naruto?"

Ino tightened her grip around the scroll holding her weapons.

"Tell us where Naruto Uzumaki is and we'll let you go, there's no need for you to die." replied the tall woman.

"Die?" Ino chuckled "I don't know who you think you are lady but you're way over your head."

"We didn't come here for you, we wouldn't be talking if that was the case, again, tell us what we want and we'll spare your life..."

Ino had enough, she opened the scroll and summoned her katana "Sure, I'll tell you what you guys want, assuming you're all alive to listen of course! Why are you after Naruto?!"

"Hey Samui-san, she has no idea of what's happening does she?" said Omoi "I suppose there's no harm in telling her about the reward."

" _Reward?_ _!_ "

"Naruto Uzumaki exposed the existence of shinobi to the world, our leaders have not taken kindly to this act and the hidden villages across the globe have agreed to place a bounty on his head. Luckily we're the first to arrive so we'll make it quick for the boy, he won't suffer I promise you that." Said Karui, the red haired woman.

Ino's eyes narrowed, she was starting to get angry "Typical of the Raikage, he feel threatened by someone else who's not even on his radar... After I'm done with you clowns I'll personally go to Kumo and take the Raikage's head!"

Samui smirked "You?" she let a small chuckle escape her "Now you're the one whose way over your head girl."

"Then why don't you come here and see what this 'girl' can do to you?!" Ino challenged.

"Samui-san, let me handle her, I'm really annoyed by her attitude..." said Karui without taking her eyes off Ino.

"Do what you want, just don't kill her, we need to know where the boy is."

"Oh I won't kill her, just hurt her a little..." she smirked.

Karui stepped forward and pulled out her own katana from her back as she prepared to meet Ino in what she assumed would be a short clash.

"This is gonna hurt little girl!" she finished before dashing towards her target, Ino was prepared for the incoming attack and being the seasoned kenjutsu artist that she was, she took a few steps back and avoided the first slash that was aimed for her legs, Karui was surprised by the move and quickly readjusted herself for a second upward slash that only connected with air, Ino simple stepped aside and realized soon that her opponent would not cause her much of a problem, she felt relaxed enough to even lower her guard as she gained some distance on her opponent.

"Is that the best you can do?" she taunted.

Karui was enraged by her comment and fell into her trap, exactly as Ino predicted. She launched herself again in quick series of slashing attacks that never connected, Ino was already reading her movements like an open book and concluded Karui was not dangerous enough to hurt her, at least in a battle of pure kenjutsu, she was inferior and this was starting to get to the red haired woman by the way she moved and attacked. Karui tried again for a front stab but Ino surprised her by not only dodging the blade but also appearing next to her and hitting her stomach with a strong knee that sent the Kumo ninja a few feet away making her land on her back and roll twice until she was on her knees using her katana to support herself, she coughed for air realizing the force of the impact that had carried her back to square one.

"Hey Karui, she's no pushover, let's team up and end this thing shall we?" said Omoi.

"Don't get involved in this! She's mine!" She angrily spat at her partner.

"Listen to your partner, you might actually stand a chance now." Ino said with confidence.

Omoi's turn came, he pulled out his own sword as well and analyzed his opponent before taking any action, he proceeded to call forth some chakra to enhance himself and then went after Ino full front, before he reached her however he vanished and appeared to her left side ready to strike a blow, to his own astonishment she did not even look at him when she blocked the attack using only the hilt of her own weapon, she had switched her hold on the katana in reverse during his move.

"You're gonna need more than that against me." she said finally setting her eyes on him and pushing him back, Karui took the opportunity to enter the fight once again using her own chakra to enhance her speed as well, still Ino saw her coming and also blocked her strike with the hilt of her sword. The Kumo duo continued to pressure Ino with a flurry of slashing strikes that failed to connect as she dodged every single attempt.

" **Kumo-Ryū: Mikazukigiri! (** **Cloud Style: Crescent Moon Slice)** "

Omoi swinged his sword in a single, large crescent moon-shaped arc in a fast move against Ino, for a moment it looked like the attack had connected but he only slashed the air as her image vanished and small trails of her hair floated in front of him, Karui saw the opportunity to strike again.

" **Kumo-Ryū: Omotegiri! (** **Cloud-Style: Front Slice)** "

To her dismay her attack was also avoided as the slashing motion was a more direct and frontal move that Ino saw coming, before any of the two could react Ino appeared between the two of them and split her legs in mid air hitting them each with a kick to the face that sent both ninja flying back against the concrete. The duo recovered and stood up again to resume their attack.

"That's enough! I'll take care of her."

In all this time Ino's concern was never her opponents, she never had to pull out her katana for the fight, it was rather on Samui, the tall woman who never stopped watching her, as if she was studying her movements intently while her partners simply distracted her, her gut told her she was a different kind of animal.

"Samui-san! We can handle her!"

Karui regretted saying that when Samui's eyes locked with hers, the powerful killing intent she felt made her tremble, she understood the message and stepped aside without second thought, Omoi silently understood the situation and lowered his weapon, he felt pity for Ino who now was about to face someone of true caliber.

"I'll ask you one more time..." She summoned from a scroll a larger katana, ideal for her size perhaps "Where is Naruto Uzumaki?"

Ino's senses sharpened "Go back to Kumo, you'll never get your hands on him while I'm still breathing..."

"Then I guess we'll have to do something about that won't we?"

"You talk too much!"

Ino decided to go to the offensive this time and launched herself at a high speed against Samui, she unsheathed her blade ready for a strike but was shocked when the woman blocked her attack with the hilt of her own weapon, similarly to what she had done earlier against Omoi.

"Now that I've seen how you move, those kind of attacks won't work against me..."

Samui started to slowly release chakra that turned in less than a second into an electric current that surged through her entire body, Ino's eyes widened realizing the danger and quickly tried to move but before she did an electric pulse emitted from Samui sent her flying back and rolling into the ground, small jolts of electricity surrounded her frame, she felt numbness in her right arm, the one she had used for the slash, her grip on the blade never released however, if anything the grip was stronger, her legs responded with some difficulty but were still there, in conclusion the attack had not been life threatening, at least for now. Ino still face down on the floor raised her head and saw an electric current emanating from her opponent's figure.

" _What the hell...?!_ "

"Heh... she's screwed." Karui said with newfound confidence.

"Raiton: Kaminari Manto (Lightning Style: Lightning Cloak)... This is only a taste of what I can do, if you tell me what I need to know I guarantee you will live."

Ino felt her body regain movement and slowly stood up again using her blade as . She studied the woman in front of her and knew frontal attacks would not work as long as the electric cloak surrounding her was active, the battle would require long distance attacks or finding a weak spot for her to enter an appropriate range and deliver the killing blow, she was surprised however when Samui deactivated the cloak completely.

"I don't want to beat you so easily, you specialize in kenjutsu arts so why not test how good you really are in that area?" She proceeded to pull out a kodachi that when seen in the scabbard, looked to be part of a single sheathed sword, the blade appearing to be the hilt gave Ino the impression of a nodachi initially, however a second blade stationed opposite the first and blending in with the saya itself being pulled out made her realize she was wrong.

"Double Kodachi style... I haven't seen any shinobi use it before."

"Oh? So you've heard of this style then, impressive, I'm sure you know how deadly it is also..."

"I do... Still, I can't afford to lose against you, no matter what happens! You'll never get to Naruto!" Ino placed her katana holding the hilt parallel to the ground and up near the shoulder with her right hand while she used her left to hold the tip pointing toward her target.

"I see... then come and show me what the Slayer is capable of!"

Ino wasted no time and launched herself at a high speed with a powerful and extensive thrust intended to impale her opponent, to her dismay and shock Samui stopped the tip of the blade mere inches away from her face using only her fingers.

"I already told you, those kind of attacks won't work with me, you'll have to do better..." She pushed the blade aside without much effort along with Ino who used the rebound momentum to spin and perform a horizontally slash, this time however Samui was gone, Ino quickly felt her presence coming from the left side, she rushed to her crossing the two kodachi and moving them outwards in a scissor-like cut aiming for the throat, Ino reacted out of instinct alone and used a vertical slash to separate the blades before they connected, this move left her torso exposed and Samui quickly readjusted her grip on both weapons holding them backhand, she slashed the lower half of her body in an x pattern that made Ino grunt and back away quickly. Ino suddenly felt sweat starting to pour from her forehead as she gained distance from her attacker, a sharp pain coming from her stomach made her grab her now stained uniform to hold the wound, soon her own hand was also bloody red, even thought the cut was not that deep it would definitely leave a nasty scar, all of a sudden she stated to dimension the predicament she found herself in and started to feel something she hand not felt in a very long time, doubt.

" _She's faster than I thought... her moves are more fluid than mine with those kodachi and she can see me coming, I need to find a blind spot but... I need to be faster than her... This is going to be tricky."_

"Is that all? So I guess what they said about you back home is true then..."

"What?!"

"Your reputation as the Slayer only proceeds you here in your own country, you haven't faced anyone truly capable of testing you yet... I'm disappointed."

"Tch! Don't get ahead of yourself!"

Ino while still holding the katana placed both hands together to gather chakra, she focused only for a second until she had enough built up inside a point of her brain, then she released it all at once removing the mental inhibition she had, the first lock of several placed within her.

" **Kaimon! Kai!** **(Gate of Opening: Open)** "

Samui's eyes narrowed, she recognized the technique right away, Ino released an air current from her body that made both Karui and Omoi cover their faces at the sudden burst, their leader remained unfazed.

"W-what the hell is she doing?!" asked a confused Karui.

"That's the Hachimon! The Eight Gates! A technique that allows the user remove the limitations of their own body and increase their speed and power exponentially by opening said gates one by one! Looks like she's removing the first one!" Omoi responded also recognizing the technique.

" **Kyūmon! Kai! (Gate of Healing: Open)** " Ino opened the second chakra gate within her brain, she knew her rival would require an extra effort if she intended to prevail. More wind currents emanated from her as she felt the surge of power filling every corner of her body.

" _Interesting... she can open more than one gate._ " Thought Samui.

For a moment Ino let the chakra within her settle until she felt she was properly adjusted, then in the blink of an eye she disappeared, Samui was in full alert mode and adjusted herself for the incoming attack than soon came from underneath her, Ino had moved very fast under her and readied her blade for the strike, unfortunately for her Samui was more than ready for the challenge and dodged the attack, Ino did not give her a second to rest and followed with more quick slashes that forced Samui to defend herself using her kodachi this time, she managed to still block every single attempt of the Konoha girl to land a hit. She noticed the loss of blood was taking effect as Ino's attacks started to become slower by the second despite two gates being opened at the moment, Ino knew this as well, she needed to land a killing blow fast before her energy was completely drained, she decided to gamble on a last attack.

Using the remaining chakra she had she went for a frontal stab that Samui saw coming easily, she was prepared to block it but Ino's body once again disappeared from her line of sight, she remained still however as she read what was about to happen, only like an experienced shinobi could. Ino reappeared behind and above her using both hands to land with full force the final blow but to her horror Samui blocked her by crossing the kodachi behind her head without even looking.

" _W-What?! That's impossible!_ " Ino panicked.

" **Raiton: Kaminari Manto!** "

Before she could react her body went numb as Samui released her chakra in the form of a lightning aura on her again, this time due to Ino being suspended mid air the contact through the blades was more than enough to send her flying hard against a concrete wall making a hole in it, dust and debris covered her now limp figure under the rubble, her katana now lied on the ground far from her reach, she felt the chakra fading from her body.

" _I... can't move!_ "

Samui lowered her blades and turned to face Ino, she approached her beaten opponent slowly and calmly, Karui and Omoi followed smirking all the way, especially Karui.

"Y-you... that wasn't... fair..." Ino could barely speak at the moment.

"Fair? There is no such thing as fair in this world, I saw everything I needed to see, there was no need to prolong the duel any further, despite you using the Hachimon you could never beat me at that level, you're nothing more than a little girl playing to be a shinobi." She raised one of the kodachi and pointed it at the battered Ino who was unable to defend now "Where is Naruto Uzumaki? Last chance..."

Fear filled her to the very soul, Samui was right, she felt like a little girl right there and then facing a pack of wolves, there was nothing she could do to change it, she had not only been bested by the Kumo woman, she had been shown how weak she was compared to her. Beaten, powerless and scared, a horrible combination of feelings, death was knocking on her door and she was not ready for it, despite believing that she was.

" _S-she's going to kill me...!_ "

"Fine...!" Samui went for the kill.

Ino's heart almost stopped, her life passed by in an instant before she closed her eyes and waited for her impending doom, the God of death however had different plans that did not include her, instead a strong presence landed right between her and Samui making the trio of Kumo ninja back away a few meters immediately, she slowly opened her eyes again to see the back of a tall white long haired man standing between her and the attackers.

"J-Jiraiya-sensei...?!"

"It seems you three are a long way from home, may I ask what are Kumo shinobi doing in Japan?" Said the old hermit with his arms crossed and smirking.

"Why do you care old man?! Leave before you get hurt!" Karui said defiantly, however Omoi knew who this man was and kept silent, a drop of sweat ran down his forehead.

"It is you who should leave now! Ino is my pupil and she's under my protection as well, whatever problem you have with her is also mine so now you'll have to deal with me for what you did to her!"

"Who the hell is this old geezer?! Omoi! Let's get him!"

Omoi put his hand on Karui's shoulder and stopped her from pulling out her sword again to the woman's confusion, Samui also looked visibly concerned due to the presence of the old man, Karui was completely oblivious to his identity. Jiraiya swung his hair and extended his arms striking a flashy and over the top kabuki pose.

"I am Myouboku Mountain's Monk of the Frog Spirits, also known as the Frog Hermit, Jiraiya-sama!"

"Huh?!" Karui was still not impressed, Jiraiya lowered his arms and his head in embarrassment at his own failed display.

"Damn it, that usually works..." He muttered before composing himself.

"Jiraiya-sama... you're described back in my home to be as strong a the Raikage himself." said Samui stepping forward after a brief silence, she then raised one of the kodachi pointing it at Jiraiya "You're in my way, it' would be an honor to take the life of the legendary Toad Sage, however I'm in the middle of something right now so I ask you once, step aside!"

"Oh my dear girl..." Jiraiya crossed his arms again and closed his eyes "You may think highly of yourself for beating my pupil here, and perhaps you do not realize how angry I am at the moment so I'll counter your proposal..." The air around him suddenly changed as he opened his eyes again, this time displaying murderous intent "Go back to Kumo or die here...!"

The exuding of intent made the calm and stoic Samui to actually tremble and reconsider what she was about to do, facing Jiraiya meant a certain death for the whole team considering both Karui and Omoi where shaking in fear as well due to the effects of Jiraiya's powerful intent, this was a battle they could not win, she composed herself quickly and lowered her kodachi, it was better to live and fight another day, perhaps a day she would not let the fear control her.

"Karui! Omoi! We retreat now!" She commanded, her teammates snapped out of the trance thanks to her voice, they both knew there was no space for a discussion on this matter and simply nodded before taking a few steps back and jumping away to safety, Samui turned her back to follow.

"This ins't over!" She said before leaping into the night, Jiraiya stood still, he waited for a few seconds until he was certain they were no longer around, then he turned to face Ino, he knelt down to check on the battered young girl.

"Can you move?"

"I... think so..." The numbness on her body was certainly going away although it was taking longer than expected, the attack had been direct after all.

"Here, this should help." he pulled out a small bag containing several brown pills, he took one and placed it close to Ino's mouth waiting for her to open it.

"H-Hyōrōgan?" She asked weakly to which the older man nodded, she accepted the pill and chewed on it a few times slowly before swallowing the pill, seconds later she felt how her chakra started to replenish, using this chance and now able to move she joined her palms together to summon her healing powers, both hands glowed with light green chakra and she placed them on her stomach where she had been hit earlier, it took a few seconds but the wound eventually closed, her uniform was now ruined but at least the blood had been stopped the rest of the healing was distributed to the rest of her body, mostly her brain, the use of the Eight Gates even if she only opened two had given her a severe headache mainly because both required the brain to do the major part in releasing all the power stored there for her. Jiraiya waited for her to be recovered before putting the pills away and extending his hand to help her stand up, the effects of the last attack where still there but at least she could walk on her own, Ino dusted off her outfit and stretched her extremities to make sure the numbness would keep disappearing. She went to pick up her katana from the ground and placed it back on its sheath before also sealing it back on her weapon scroll.

"How are you feeling now?"

Ino did not say anything, the only feeling she could describe at that moment was impotence, she hated that feeling inside of her, it made her heart feel weak and empty, she was still shaken by the experience of almost dying that night.

"Ino?"

"I... I almost died, I couldn't do anything and I was... scared." she finally responded only looking at the ground in shame.

"Death comes for all of us at some point, a shinobi knows that better than anyone."

"Its not that... I was scared of not getting a chance to see Naruto again."

"Well, you have a chance now, tonight was not your time young lady so cheer up will ya?" Jiraiya smiled.

"You... know where he is Jiraiya-sensei?" her eyes suddenly had a spark of hope.

"Yes, I'll take you to him, still, I wonder why those Kumo ninja are here, did they tell you anything?"

"Its Naruto, there's a bounty on him."

"Hmm..." He pondered for a minute evaluating the situation. "Tell me everything."

* * *

"That's impossible!"

At least an hour had passed since Naruto's arrival and Karin was digesting all the information they shared with her that night, his arrival to Konoha, the pursuit by Fugaku Uchiha, his return to Tokyo and currently the discovery of the tailed beasts, specifically the fact that her uncle and aunt had found the nine tailed fox.

"It's not, they each sealed half within them, who knows to what end."

"I thought the legend of the Tailed Beasts was just that, a legend!" Karin paced around the living room, both Naruto and Sakura just watched from the couch.

"It's not apparently, we know that's why Uchiha corp is after me, they want to use me to lure them out of hiding..."

"Because parents are supposed to protect their children... it makes sense." Karin concluded "If I knew better a corporate mind only seeks one thing, control, they want to control the beast."

"But how? Sealing it also within someone in that organization? How does that even work?" Sakura asked.

"I don't know much about that but according to the legends, a person capable to harnessing the power of a tailed beast can destroy anyone in their path, if they want to use them to become jinchuuriki themselves nobody would oppose them, maybe this Fugaku guy is the 'control the world' type of person?"

"Hey, how come you know all this stuff if you've never been to Konoha?" Naruto asked.

"Because of this..." Karin went to her room for a minute and returned with a small wooden coffer, she took a seat next to her guests and opened it to reveal several scrolls inside, shinobi scrolls. She took one and opened it to show the content to her cousin.

"These... these are ninja scrolls, how'd you get them?" Naruto examined what was written on it.

"Honestly I don't know, one day a lawyer came to the foster home I was in when I was a child, he asked for me specifically and said that mom and dad had left me with a bunch of stuff I didn't know anything about back then, including this coffer, I started reading into them and they pretty much match what you've been telling me about the history of shinobi, some of them are also about chakra control and all that."

"That explains why you could use it back then when we were kids..." he continued looking through the scroll "Is there anything here about tailed beasts?"

"Yes, this one..." she went to take the scroll Naruto was looking for but an unexpected knock on the door froze them as the all looked with concern in the same direction "Uh... didn't your sensei say he was staying at a hotel? Or are we expecting someone else?"

"I'll go, stay here." Sakura stood up from the couch and walked cautiously to the door, it could definitely not be the police as they would have bought the door down given the case, Naruto was a fugitive after all and they would not be gentle about it if they knew he was there, the only reasonable explanation was that Jiraiya was not able to find a room anywhere and he decided to return. She approached the door went for the handle.

"Who is it?"

"It's Ino, open the door Sakura..."

Sakura's eyes widened, how did Ino of all people find their location? And most importantly, why was she in Osaka? She turned to see Naruto's expression immediately change as soon as he heard her voice, she opened the slowly and there she stood, her former friend with her usual purple shinobi uniform all tattered and covered in dried stains of blood, a sad expression on her face as she met her green eyes.

"Ino?... What brings you here? What happened to you? You look..." Sakura looked up and down at her "Like you've seen better days..."

"Is Naruto with you? I really need to speak with him, it's important."

"I-uh..."

At that moment Naruto approached the door and Ino's heart almost skipped a beat when their eyes met again, he looked stoic as usual considering the fact that she was there and it was no surprise, but regardless she was glad to see him still in one piece.

"What are you doing here?" he asked in a lower and almost hostile tone of voice, Ino knew she had no right to reproach, he did not even seem to care about how she looked at the moment.

"The Raikage of Kumo has placed a bounty on your head, other hidden villages apparently are in on this as well although at the moment Kumo is the only one who has stated their intentions..."

"A bounty?" Sakura's voice interrupted.

"The exposure Naruto had last night to the media has caused a lot of panic in several sectors of the shinobi world, they look at it as if he exposed them to society and thus they wish to kill him now... I just fought with three ninja from Kumo who were looking for you."

"Are you hurt?!" Sakura asked now visibly concerned.

"I'm fine, Jiraiya-sensei was there, he saved me and brought me here, said you were visiting a family relative..."

Karin approached the door to see who the visitor was and saw Ino standing there talking with them.

"Who's your friend? Hi, I'm Karin!" She went to extend her hand but Naruto to her shock blocked it without even blinking, his eyes never looked away from the girl who had hurt his trust.

"And you came here out of concern for me? Is that your excuse?" Naruto asked more sternly this time.

"Naruto, we should let her in and explain what happened." Karin was the one making the suggestion.

"She's fine where she is..." he stated matter-of-factly surprising the two girls inside the apartment, Ino knew better and stayed quiet, deep down she knew his hatred was justified.

"I know you don't want to see me and that's completely fine with me but I came here to warn you, the guys who attacked me are very dangerous and even if Jiraiya-sensei is here who knows how many other ninja have been sent after you, all of us need to return to Konoha where it's safe."

"I'm not leaving Osaka, not until I'm done with what I came here to do, you can go back to the old man and tell him that yourself, now leave." he walked away from the door.

"Naruto!" Karin was really surprised by her cousin's out of nowhere cold attitude, even Sakura, who had no love lost for Ino, was baffled at how he responded to her, whatever had happened between them really affected him.

"I understand... Then I won't go back either, you're gonna need help, whatever it is you're planning, I'm in."

"I didn't ask for your help, leave!" Naruto was getting frustrated at that point. Ino's stubbornness got the best of her, she pushed the door along with Sakura aside and entered the apartment, she was also getting into an altered state, Karin only watched the exchange between the two in awe.

"Hey Ino! What the hell?!" Sakura protested but the blonde girl ignored her.

"Look at me! See this?!" She pointed at her lower abdomen, specifically at the new x shaped scar she had gotten courtesy of Samui "I just got this tonight thanks to you! I put my life on the line out there to defend YOU! And had Jiraiya-sensei not been there then I wouldn't be standing here right now!"

"Thanks to ME?!" Naruto had enough, he walked over to meet Ino face to face, she was startled by his demeanor "I didn't ask you to come here in the first place! That-" He pointed at her scar "is your own doing, not mine! Stop blaming others for your own actions!"

"Then what?! Would've you preferred I talked and betray you?! Is that is?!"

"I WOULD'VE PREFERRED IF YOU DIED!" He spat.

The room went silent, Ino's ray of hope disappeared in that instant, she literally felt her heart sink harder than ever before, it was unbelievable he could not muster even a little compassion for her and instead just plain out wish her dead without remorse. Reality had hit her twice that night in the face, she learned what it was like to feel in the verge of death and now she realized she had lost someone she cared about, this time for good.

"Naruto that's enough!" Karin suddenly shouted.

"No, it's fine..." Ino's voice was softer now, she had a depressed look on her face, Karin was puzzled "He's right, I should be dead right now and not here, at least he would be safe, I'm sorry for interrupting..." She lowered her head and stepped back before fully turning around to head for the door, Karin kept looking between her and her cousin hoping he would do something even if she did not fully understand what the story was but Naruto just stood there still defiant and not caring at all. She could not stand what she had witnessed and went out after the girl she had just met.

Nobody ever noticed Sakura had a smile adorn her face for a second.

-0-

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto**

 **Hey there, advancing on this story as almost three months have passed since the last update, thought releasing these chapters in a row would at least buy me some time while I keep making new ones, but now that I'm working from home thanks to that stupid coronavirus at least I can concentrate more time on the story and hopefully get two more chapters out soon, stay safe y'all!**


	15. Chapter 15

"Hey wait!"

Karin went after Ino to try to find out what the deal with Naruto was, she knew her cousin and figured there had to be a reason for his rough attitude with the blonde girl, Naruto was a gentle and nice person by nature and she was sure he would not lash out the way he did without a good explanation. Ino kept walking at a fast pace ignoring the red haired Uzumaki girl who kept following her, she found herself not willing to look at anyone in the eye at that moment, her spirit was too broken for that already, she lacked the courage to face even a stranger like Karin.

"Hey stop!" Karin kept calling.

"Please leave me alone...!" Ino kept her pace going down the stairs of the building.

"No way! Naruto doesn't talk to people like that just because! Please tell me what happened!"

Ino stopped but never faced her, tears where starting to form in her eyes "Ask him, I'm sure whatever he says will be make more sense..." and with that she kept walking faster, Karin decided to stop chasing her the girl and let her be for the moment, pestering her about personal matters would not do any good, besides she could be right, maybe her cousin could explain the truth. She decided to go back to her apartment to question Naruto, there was a possibility he could explain this mess to her. Sakura was waiting outside of the apartment also and waited for Karin to return before she closed the door.

"What the fuck Naruto?! What was that all about?!"

Naruto ignored her outburst and simply went back to the couch.

"How did she know we came to Osaka? Do you think Hokage-sama...?"

"I wouldn't be surprised if he did."

"Look I'm gonna keep watch tonight, if Kumo shinobi are here then we need to be alert, I'll be outside if you need me." Naruto nodded, she proceeded to exit the apartment and leave the Uzumaki cousins on their own.

"Didn't you hear what she said?! There's a price on your head!" Karin was not giving up on the subject.

"It's not her business what happens to me anymore, I can take care of myself..." He closed his eyes for a minute and took a deep breath, Karin took this opportunity to dash next to him and take a seat also.

"Please tell me what happened..."

Naruto opened his eyes to meet her cousin's, despite his unwillingness to talk, he knew family was trustworthy enough to know what had transpired between them "I met Ino over a month ago back in Tokyo, she was the one who brought me to Konoha and we started to train together, at some point I thought we had developed a friendship since we spent a lot of time with each other... Then last night..." Naruto pulled out his father's kunai "I was looking for this, my dad uses it not just as a weapon but also as a tool for a teleportation jutsu, I thought if I poured my chakra it would somehow activate and lead me to them... This is why I joined them, I want to find mom and dad and that's all that matters to me..."

Karin's eyes softened as he continued.

"It was my fault I got captured by the police in the first place but tell me, if you thought there was a chance, even the slightest possibility that you can change something to your favor, wouldn't you give it a shot?... She didn't understand that, the team I was with didn't understand that, not even the Hokage... Sakura is here on her own free will and I trust Jiraiya-sensei is also but with Ino things are different and I can't trust her anymore after what happened, she turned her back on me last night during a crucial moment and I'm not about to become anyone's mean to an end, be it Uchiha Corp or Konoha, all I want is my family back..."

"So... you didn't come here just looking for refuge... right?"

Naruto nodded "You're the best sensor I know, I need your help."

"Naruto it's not that simple, I would need to be in range to find them and-"

"No wait, I'm not talking about mom and dad right now, I know they're out of reach and it's a bit unrealistic to ask you that, I'm talking about someone else..."

"Who exactly?" Karin's eyebrow raised.

"Fugaku Uchiha's son, Sasuke Uchiha."

* * *

"But sir! We haven't found him yet!"

" _I don't care, news is Fugaku Uchiha is also looking for the boy and I would rather avoid a confrontation with that man, return immediately, that's an order..._ "

Samui ended the call and put away her phone in frustration as she looked over the city, the shinobi trio of Kumo found themselves at the very top of the Kyocera Dome, a large baseball stadium where currently a game was being held, over 30.000 people were there that night enjoying the game and completely oblivious to the three ninja who watched everything from above.

"Any news Samui-san?" It was Omoi's voice.

"They want us to return home already..."

"What?! But what about the mission?!"

"Fugaku Uchiha got involved apparently, they don't want to risk a confrontation with him... tch!" She mentally cursed her luck.

"That's bullshit! Samui-san! They can't be serious!" Karui also said.

"Well they are, as much as I would like to stay and finish the job, word is other villages will soon join the hunt, battling two fronts is not wise right now."

Omoi interjected "The boy is not going to leave the country though, with Fugaku Uchiha after him I doubt the other villages will succeed in capturing or killing him."

"Who knows if he's after him, or protecting him..."

"Huh? Why would he protect him?"

"There's a reason Konoha brought him into this, that kid is valuable to Uchiha Corp in some way... Listen, I need to ask you guys a favor."

"Please don't tell me you're about to do what I think you're about to do Samui-san..." Omoi said visibly concerned.

"I'm not one to leave things unfinished, don't worry about me, I'll be fine..."

* * *

"Sasuke this is insane, I mean, what you did before was nuts but this is REALLY insane!"

"I don't care, nobody wants to give me answers, not even Naori so it's up to me to find them.

Sasuke was packing light, he did not intend to stay at the mansion one minute longer with his arms crossed waiting for someone to come over to him and tell him why his father was after a boy the same age as he was, he was tired of being left out and although he did not have a plan, he knew he had to disappear from his father's radar for some time.

"But you don't even know where Konoha is! You don't even know if it's even real!"

"It's real Suigetsu, as real as it gets, the higher ups in the corporation know this, my father also knows this but they refuse to acknowledge its existence, yet they wage a war against an invisible enemy... Konoha is a real place."

"War?! What are you even talking about?!"

"That Naruto Uzumaki... the kidnap attempt on him was a declaration of war against Konoha, he may have exposed the existence of shinobi but he didn't do anything I wouldn't, that's why I need to find him, I need to go to Konoha and find answers before this thing gets out of control, all my dad cares about is controlling people even if they don't work for him, I'm not going to follow those steps."

"Tch... and what am I supposed to do meanwhile huh?! Wait here while your dad plans a thousand ways to murder me?!"

"That won't happen because you're coming with me."

Suigetsu was silenced right there, not that he had a better plan but now he was certain if he joined Sasuke on his journey to find a boy who was a target of the company it mean his head would also have a price, then again his other choice was to stay there and wait for his boss to find out everything and make him disappear from the this world, Suigetsu already knew arguing with Sasuke would only end up in him losing said argument anyway.

"*Sigh* Fine... Where do you want to start?"

Sasuke was actually surprised his friend did not try to convince him further about his plans, after all Suigetsu was a guy who avoided trouble at all cost "The police would be a good place to start, I'm sure someone there has information we can use."

"W-wait what?! The police?! Are you crazy?!"

"They arrested Naruto Uzumaki so they must have a file at least, his fingerprints, something we can use as a lead, you got a better idea?"

"You can start by Anko Mitarashi..." The voice of Naori interrupter their conversation, Suigetsu was startled by her sudden presence but Sasuke was not, the woman casually entered the room "She arrested him so she already has a file on the boy, she could be a good start."

"And how do you know this exactly?" Sasuke asked.

"My contacts inside the police department already confirmed it, if you want to find him before your father does, I suggest you start there."

"Naori, you haven't been completely honest with me, what do you expect to gain from all of this?"

Of course Sasuke was not expecting her to tell him what her plans were but he was at least waiting for a hint of honesty, even if was not that much, Naori however knew Sasuke was very different from her boss, if anyone could eventually know the truth of all the Uchiha it would have to be him.

"You know I've worked close to your father for years, he is my employer and as such I owe him a degree of loyalty but that does not mean I'll look away while he ensures the future of the Uchiha clan disappears from existence..."

"The future of the Uchiha clan...? What do you mean by that?"

"Sasuke, there are bigger things happening than your father, you or me, I know that your mentality is different from his and that is why I'm not selling you out to him right now, I pray you find the Uzumaki boy first and then we'll talk again, I give you my word I'll explain everything."

Sasuke remained silent and deep in thought, he actually did not expect her to throw more than a few words at him but now he had more questions than answers, Suigetsu of course was baffled by her demeanor and constantly kept looking between Naori and his friend expecting to see more interaction, Naori on the other hand prepared to leave the room.

"Naori..."

She stopped "Your father will be arriving to the mansion soon, I suggest you make haste..."

"Thank you..."

She remained static for a few seconds before walking away.

* * *

If there was one thing that could bring Ino Yamanaka peace of mind was the sight of the rising sun over the horizon, a beautiful red and pink sky adorned the city during those early hours and it gave her the same reminder it always had, night had never beaten dawn. She spent that night meditating on top of the building where her former teammate was staying, at least this way she could keep watch over the complex without interfering in his affairs. She had witnessed Sakura just below at the entrance of the apartment keeping an eye, in her mind she pitied the girl if someone else came from her position and caught her off guard, she knew her presence, even though not requested, was required. The terrace was all for herself but she picked a high spot on top of a concrete structure and sat there in lotus position for several hours, her body was now rested and relaxed despite not getting the normal sleep the brain needed, her years of training had taught her there were other ways to relax the mind and body without the necessity to succumb to hours of sleep in a bed, of course nothing could compare to the comfort of a good sleep in bed but fortunately for her and thanks to her chakra knowledge, this could be replaced.

She tried her best not to ponder about Naruto's last words, at that point she was practically giving up on hope to regain his trust, that did not mean she would also give up on protecting him, it was her duty after all and no matter if he agreed or not, she would carry on with that mission to the end, she owed that to him especially now that she was also holding a huge revelation from him, one that could potentially make their friendship rise from the ashes or be disappear from the face of the earth, but it was not her call to tell him that.

"You know there are many hotels around the city, I don't understand how you could spend all night here without freezing."

The voice of the toad sage Jiraiya interrupted her meditation, it actually startled her, she looked just below where she sat to see the smiling old man standing there with both arms on his hip "Jiraiya-sensei?! I... I thought you'd be the one resting in a hotel room right now."

"Yeah I was, until I could see from my window a blonde little girl just sitting here on her own, I take it things didn't go as planned?"

Ino's expression softened, she stood up and jumped down to meet her sensei, she looked over the horizon "I messed up Jiraiya-sensei... I turned my back on him when he needed me and this is the result, he hates me more than I thought..."

"Hmmm? The boy is stubborn, I'll give him that, still..." Jiraiya turned his head to look over the same direction the girl was "Why don't you just give him his memories back huh?"

Ino was stunned, this was top secret information and it was not supposed to be shared with anyone, she was at a loss of word and could only look at her sensei in shock, Jiraiya simply kept his sly smile.

"H-how..?"

"My rank within Konoha has granted me certain... privileges, one of them is access to classified information, before we left the village the old man mentioned something that caught my interest so I started to dig into a some old files, I already know the whole story, you two knew each other since you were little kids but due to an event where Naruto ended up injuring a few people you were ordered to erase a part of his memory as if you never existed..."

"...In hopes he would never have to live a shinobi life... It was a request from his parents, they didn't want him to grow up like the rest of us did, they wanted to give him a chance at a normal life..."

"And look at how things have turned out... You two actually were pretty close as I recall."

"Well, my dad worked a lot with Minato-san so he brought me to their home every chance he could, we were just kids back then but we did spent a lot of time together."

"Tell me something, why did his own parents wanted to erase the memory of their only son? Were his actions so terrible?"

"Jiraiya-sensei I..."

"Look, you don't have to tell me if you don't want to, at least consider what I said will ya?"

"I can't do that! It's not my decision to give him that back!"

"Then who's?... They're not here Ino, things have changed and we need what's missing between you two again, trust, for the two of you and for the group, any consequences of your actions will be my responsibility, remember I'm in charge of the team so don't feel guilty about anything."

Ino's mind was split at that moment, as a shinobi one of the rules was to never reveal sensitive information or secrets to anyone, in most cases that applied mainly to the enemy but this was a special case that extended beyond that point, she had been tasked as a child to take a portion of her childhood friend's mind and lock it away for as long as she lived so he could have a life away from all of this, then again, he was already a part of that world and there would be no turning back, Jiraiya was also in a position of authority over hers, even if the person who assigned her that task all those years ago was not there, his title and rank as Sage allowed him almost as much freedom as the Hokage himself when it came to sharing secrets.

"Ino, you owe that to him, he will never have a normal life now, as long as we exist, as long as he's a target he will live this life until his last day, that was the whole point to erasing his past right? To avoid that..." He looked at her again, this time with a serious look "You've got nothing to lose by letting him know the truth, unless you want to carry that burden for the rest of your life take it from experience, the only people who always deserve the truth from you are those you truly care about."

"Jiraiya-sensei... If I break the oath I made back then surely there will be severe consequences for me and my father, not counting the fact I'll never be trusted with a mission again, I'll be completely unreliable."

"Hmm..." Jiraiya smiled and looked over the horizon "Tell me Ino, what is your Nindo?"

"Huh?" the question caught her off guard.

"I never asked you right? Tell me, what is your Nindo?"

"Umm... to... to protect the people I love and care for."

"And have you been able to fulfill it?"

"Well... I don't really know." she looked down in confusion.

"A shinobi is not just a tool Ino, we are also humans, we think and act accordingly, Nindo's purpose is to create harmony by perseverance, harmony within ourselves kid. We are raised and taught that we are just weapons for war and nothing else, mindless soldiers to carry out our duty no matter the cost, like in the rest of human society, we are seen as pawns and nothing more... The Nindo allows us to be more than that, not just live by a strict code of 'duty and honor' like most do, the great Kages of each village rose to power not because they followed orders but because they challenged the system they were a part of and they did that by following their own philosophy, their own Nindo, not someone else's..."

He was right, her short time as a shinobi had taught her to become nothing more than a deceiver, sometimes even to those she really loved and cared for, living a duality was something she could no longer do no matter how experienced she was, this was never the life she thought she would have to carry, deep down she wanted to be more than what her nickname implied. So far she followed orders without taking responsibility for what she caused because she believe she was following the code of the village as her own, in reality both were so different from each other and she was too focused on carrying out the will of others instead of her own.

"Both of you are struggling to trust each other, if he knows who you truly are, the reasons behind what you did, maybe he'll understand and give you a break, I need both of my students back in synchrony..."

Ino smiled, she needed to stop trying to control something she clearly had no longer control over, the way things were developing she needed her old comrade back, she needed her old friend back. The ball was now on her court, this WAS her call after all.

"I'll think about it Jiraiya-sensei..."

* * *

Iruka was having the mother of all headaches that morning, the lack of sleep was affecting him in a bad way, all of this thanks to the endless hours of information gathering he had to do issued by Anko who was still recovering in the hospital ever since the incident with Naruto, obviously the department was still expecting her file on the Uzumaki boy as several international agencies had been calling recently asking about him, Iruka however refused to share any details on the case, this was an internal issue and his mentor would be dammed if a foreign agency took that from them, Naruto was their case, their issue and they would handle it without any interference from external forces, however he was not working on his file at the moment.

Against Iruka's wishes Anko ordered him to start a file on Fugaku Uchiha instead, the night Naruto escaped had created more questions ever since the boy mentioned his name, why was he after him? What did Uchiha Corporation, a well known and respected company send mercenaries after a minor? What did Naruto's parents had to do in all of this? He had spent several hours trying to connect the pieces together, this new file was extremely confidential so he would have to take it with him everywhere, work on it from home if necessary.

A knock on the door soon came, Iruka quickly closed the file and put it away inside his desk.

"Come in!"

The door opened and a tall elder man with ash-grey hair and squinted eyes dressed in a navy blue full suit with red tie and white shirt underneath appeared before him.

"Chief Yashiro, to what do I owe the pleasure?" Iruka's voice came out somewhat nervous.

"Care to explain this?" The chief of police angrily slammed a newspaper in front of his desk, the headline read 'POLICE INVOLVED?' "There are witnesses that claim Mitarashi let the boy escape!"

"Naruto? Chief with all due respect, you shouldn't buy into these tabloids, I was tending to her wounds when that happened, we didn't see-"

"Don't give me that crap Iruka! You know damn well what would happen once those handcuffs were off, you let our main suspect escape! Do you know how serious this is?!"

"Sir, if we hadn't released him our whole squad would probably be dead now! He aided us against those mercenaries whoever they were!"

"Tch..." Yashiro closed the door and made sure the blinds were closed "I gave Mitarashi's team one order, ONE ORDER! It was was to apprehend the Uzumaki boy and bring him here for questioning! How in the hell did you guys think letting him go was a good idea?!"

Iruka did not reply right away, at that moment he wished it was Anko and not him taking the heat for what had happened, technically he was only following orders but he knew not taking responsibility was not the best choice, his mentor would not be happy with him if he shifted all the blame on her.

"Sir, Naruto Uzumaki is still a suspect in our book, Anko-senpai gave him a 24 hour head start only for helping us that night, as soon as she's recovered we'll continue his search, we already sent the warrant to other departments across the country to look for him."

"Mitarashi gave him too much of an advantage and now we got all sorts of agencies asking about it, FBI, CIA, Interpol, they all want to get the kid, plus the last thing we need is an internal investigation happening right now..."

"Wait chief, are we under investigation?!"

"Not yet, but my bosses are asking too many questions about the incident and will certainly want someone's head for this mess..."

Iruka already knew where the conversation was going and he did not like it one bit, if a reasonable and satisfactory explanation was not given to his boss's superiors then both him and his mentor would lose their job with luck, worst case scenario they would be investigated themselves for aiding the escape of a suspect and perhaps end with incarceration.

"Go visit Mitarashi and explain to her what's going on, she better help us clean up this mess or both of you will not be glad to see me next time..."

The man left not before slamming the door behind him and once again leaving Iruka all by himself wondering what he should do next, of course he needed to inform Anko about the current status but he was far more concerned with the file he was working on, especially with certain individuals inside the department. Just before he was about to leave the office his cellphone rang, he went to pick it up and saw his mentor's name on it.

"Hello?"

"You need to watch the news..."

* * *

"Naruto! You gotta turn on the TV!"

Sakura had entered the apartment again after going out to buy some supplies, Naruto raised an eyebrow at the pink haired girl's request but nonetheless complied with it, he was currently eating a bowl of cereal with milk and Karin accompanied him on the small dining table, he went for the remote on the couch and pressed the red button to turn on the screen Karin had in her living room before going back to his chair. The first thing he saw was several photos of his own persona from the night he was recorded, the broadcast was coming from a local news channel, several reporters currently talking amongst themselves about Naruto's actions as well as the repeated fact that nobody had ever seen anything like it, just at the bottom of said pictures the words WANTED were being shown.

"The Interpol has issued a red notice against you, we can't leave the country if your parents are outside, this changes the situation a lot..." Sakura said worried.

"Great..." Naruto stood up and left his breakfast half empty "We can't stay here then, sorry cousin..."

"Hold on! You don't have to leave. Aside from your sensei and that blond chick nobody else knows you're here right? If you want to move forward with this plan of yours then I suggest we bring them here, we'll need all the help we can get!"

"What plan?" Sakura asked.

"To find Sasuke Uchiha, he could be the key to solve this whole thing..."

"Sasuke Uchiha?! Fugaku's son?! Are you mad Naruto?!"

"I told him the same thing Sakura but he has a point, this won't end until both sides find a neutral ground and he might be the only person able to do that for Naruto..."

Naruto turned off the screen and pondered what his next move would be, the entire police force would now be looking for him aside from the shinobi from the other villages who wanted to get the bounty on him, moving around would prove to be difficult even if he changed his appearance, he knew he could not stay in Karin's apartment forever hiding until everything calmed down, that would not happen and she would be put at risk as well, then again, he had already done that by coming to her in the first place.

"Naruto listen, there's this guy I know from work... He's a shinobi also, if you let me talk with him maybe he can help us."

"Whoa! Not a good idea to bring people we don't know into this!" Sakura was concerned with the course of the conversation.

"I'd rather avoid involving more people Karin..."

"Look, I won't mention your name, I've seen him work and I'm sure he can give us the time we need to find Sasuke Uchiha, trust me on this one okay?"

This was an extremely risky move, Naruto knew he was running out of options but he trusted Karin's words, he needed to anyway. He walked back and forth thinking about his next move, he needed to start thinking like a strategist now if he wanted to stay ahead of his foes which in this case, was a whole corporation.

"No names... how soon can you talk with this person?"

"Today."

-o-

 **Disclaimer: I am not the owner of Naruto.**

 **Thank you very much for your patience, I thought the quarantine would help me get ahead with the story but on the contrary I'm finding less time to work on it than I thought, most of it my fault honestly, I spend too much time doing other stuff while I'm at home, sorry for the trouble and thanks again for sticking around, enjoy!**


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